Don't Look Back
by xHalosandwings
Summary: We can't help who we fall in love with and that's what a group of friends find out when a college reunion brings them back together. Long-standing relationships crumble and old ones reconcile but which ones will stand the test of time? Multi-couples.
1. Five Years On

Welcome to the first chapter of _Don't Look Back_ :)  
I've had this fic on the brain for a while and I've already written the first four chapters so I'm super excited.

Just in case you want a little more info, the main characters are (in no particular order)...  
Justin Gabriel, Kelly Blank, Cody Rhodes, Maryse Ouellet, Ted DiBiase, Eve Torres, Mike Mizanin, Tiffany Terrell and Jay Reso.

Phew! Now that's done, onto the first chapter!

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**FIVE YEARS ON**

"Next!"

Working in casting was never going to be an easy job. From the outside looking in, it may have seemed simple but you had to find the perfect person, the one that you could truly believe _is_ the person they're trying to portray. You go through hundreds of people – well, sometimes hundreds – in an attempt to find the one you're looking for and it's an exhausting process.

He didn't realise it was possible, but Cody Rhodes was tired of spending his day, deciding on which MILF was best suited for the laundry detergent commercial they were casting. As the twelfth MILF of the day left the room, his brother Dustin shot the woman a polite smile before turning to Cody, who mocked banging his head against the table.

"No more." His voice was muffled against the wood. "I can't take any more of them. Can't we just pick that last woman? She had a great smile and-"

"She couldn't sell Evian in the desert and that accent? Nails on a chalk board."

Dustin had been doing this a lot longer than Cody so the younger Rhodes knew to take his brother's advice, no matter how boring the job could get. In fact, it was Dustin that got his half-brother the job. After college, Cody had no idea what he wanted to do; those college advisors were no help whatsoever and he was left wondering where he was going to go with his media and communications degree. Dustin stepped in and offered Cody a job at his casting firm, giving him something to do whilst he sorted himself out. Time passed and Cody discovered it wasn't a bad job; he learnt a lot from it, plus he got along well with his brother so it was cool to spend time with him.

"Come on, we've got another five girls to see tomorrow, maybe one of them will do the job."

"You're optimistic." Cody stood up and stole a cigarette out of Dustin's pack. He lit it and took a drag, making his big brother roll his eyes. "What?" Dustin signalled at the 'NO SMOKING' sign on the wall, to which Cody grumbled and leaned out of the window.

"Smoking's a vile habit, you know."

"Says that guy whose pack I just took one out of."

"I've smoked for almost twenty years whereas you've just started now. It's a habit for me; I don't know how anyone can start in this day and age." He replied, shoving the pack into his pocket so Cody couldn't take anymore. "And isn't your girlfriend a nurse? Doesn't she badger you about all the health complications?"

"Yeah, well there are some things Mickie doesn't need to know." Cody responded. "Besides, I get stressed."

"Stressed? What have _you_ got to be stressed about? Good looking guy with a stable job and an awesome girlfriend? Yeah, Cody, your life is fucked."

The younger Rhodes decided not to answer that. He finished his cigarette in silence, before stubbing it out on the windowsill and turning around to face his brother. "Guess what came in the mail this morning? Next month, it's my five year college reunion."

"Are you serious? It's been five years since you graduated? Damn." Dustin let out a low whistle. "And how long has it been since you lost touch with everyone?"

"We didn't all lose touch." He defended.

Dustin raised an eyebrow.

"Ted's still my best friend and Eve and I sometimes go out for a drink!"

"How recently is sometimes?" Cody didn't say anything. "When did you last see her?" Cody muttered something that sounded similar to 'last Christmas' proving Dustin's point perfectly. "Yeah, that 'friends forever' stuff never lasts. Usually you stay in touch with a couple of people but you make new friends. Like me." He shot his half brother a charming smile.

"Wow. Aren't I lucky?"

"Anyone you're particularly excited to see?" Dustin asked, filing away all his paperwork from the day.

Deciding not to say that one name that popped into his head, the dark haired man shrugged innocently, helping his brother with the paperwork. "No, not really-"

"Really? Not even that girl you were really good friends with?" Cody didn't speak, instead turning round to hide his colour-infused cheeks. "Her name slips my mind...come on, she was a really hot blonde; great personality, good body, the most beautiful smile ever."

Cody lied through his teeth and said "I have no idea who you're talking about."

* * *

"-yes, this is Kelly Blank." Kelly practically leapt on top of the telephone the second she heard it ring. That was, after she realised she'd left it in the bathroom that morning when she had her sister on speaker phone whilst she shaved her legs. Lesson learnt; when you're waiting for an important call from work, don't leave the phone away from its usual spot.

"_What did you do wrong?" _

Oh, how she despised her agent, Vickie Guerrero. The woman was pure evil and her voice just made Kelly want to scream but unfortunately, she was one of the best agents in the city and a good agent was exactly what a struggling actress like herself needed as she tried to break into the world of acting. Vickie was an absolute witch that did nothing but criticise Kelly but unlike her past agent, Vickie at least got her auditions.

"_Did you talk too much? Did you wear that low-cut red top I left outside your apartment? You know what I've told you about showing skin, you need to flaunt those babies as much as possible. In this industry, it's hard to find a good pair of natural-"_

"I'm guessing I didn't get the part." She would've killed for that role; it was only a small part – the barmaid with two lines – but it was a part in a Matt Damon movie. Matt Damon, for God's sake. This kind of movie would get her real recognition, even if all she was saying was 'What can I get you?' and 'Here you go.'

"_No, you didn't get the part and I want to know why. That part was perfect for you and somehow you managed to blow it. What the hell are you gonna do about it, Barbie?" _

Kelly had to grit her teeth so she didn't slam the phone down. Because of the girl's long blonde hair, good looks and perky attitude, Vickie always called her Barbie. Sometimes, her friends said it innocently but when it was Vickie, it sounded so degrading and rude. "I guess I'll just try a little harder next time."

"_That you will. It's no Matt Damon movie but there's a part in The Young and the Restless. Once again, it's a two line part but you never know what it will lead to. The audition's next week so I'll email you the audition info." _Without saying anything else, Vickie hung up.

The blonde knew it wouldn't be easy to get into the acting industry – it was all her tutors at college told her – but she didn't estimate how hard it would actually be. Kelly had always been the girl that got the main role in the school plays – she was Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Tallulah in Bugsy Malone and pretty much any other female lead role you could think of. She wasn't as clever as her other classmates – she wasn't dumb, she just didn't have 'book smarts' – but she worked her ass off and got the grades she needed for the performing arts course she was taking at college.

Five years had passed since graduation and it was just as difficult getting work now as it was back then. Acting jobs were like gold dust and were often poorly paid so Kelly had to work as a waitress at a local Italian restaurant to pay the bills. If it weren't for getting to deal with nice customers and her fellow waitress/struggling actress/good friend Kaitlyn, she'd probably go crazy.

Sighing, she put the house phone back in its usual spot before flopping down on the couch and turning on some crappy daytime TV. Her shift at _Marcella's _wasn't until six so she had a good five hours worth of doing absolutely nothing, other than waiting for Vickie to send her the brief for her next audition.

"_Clean House_, again?" The door of the apartment opened and in came Kelly's boyfriend Justin, who shook his head sadly at the home makeover show. "You need to get a life." His teasing was in good humour, as he came and sat down on the couch next to her and kissed her on the cheek before getting comfortable, draping an arm over her shoulders.

Justin Gabriel was pretty much the perfect guy in Kelly's eyes and she felt lucky to call him her boyfriend after so many years together. The pair met in junior year of high school when he moved from Cape Town, South Africa. He was being shown around by a friend of Kelly's and the pair were instantly set up on a date. Their first date was a trip to the movies followed by dinner at the best restaurant in her hometown of Jacksonville. They clicked straight away and became inseparable, making in all the way through high school. They even applied and went to the same college together for a little while but after the first semester, Justin got an offer he couldn't refuse.

In high school, he was scouted by a modelling agency and had always done a little bit of part-time work but in college, he found out one of the Los Angeles Fashion Week organisers had seen his portfolio and they wanted him to model for a few of their shows.

His agent told him that an opportunity like this could lead to so much more – real Hollywood modelling work – and if he said yes, school would have to take a backseat. Justin spent a lot of time debating whether he should go or not and he eventually decided that it was a once in a lifetime chance. His education was very important to him but he could always return to college but something like this might not come around again.

No-one thought Justin and Kelly would last when he went to L.A. They were the perfect, sweet couple but with Justin on the West Coast and Kelly back east, surely things would come to an end? But no, they managed to make it work. Whenever Justin had a break, he'd come back and visit his girlfriend and Kelly even flew out to California on one occasion to surprise him. What the pair had was a loving bond that even distance couldn't break and having been together for so long, they seemed indestructible.

Where love lasted, money and fortune didn't. They got by but Justin's LA money had run out over time and now the pair lived together in their small East Coast apartment. Justin was trying to find modelling work whilst working as a lifeguard at the local pool and Kelly was an actress and waitress. It wasn't exactly a fairytale but they were happy enough.

"I take it you haven't opened the mail today?" Justin signalled over at the pile of envelopes on the coffee table. She shook her head and leaned forward to tear into a couple. The last one she pulled open was the only one that caught her interest in any way and Justin saw this as she went quiet whilst she read. "What does it say?"

"It's the invite to the five year college reunion." She laughed, surprised. "Can you believe five years have passed since I graduated? It's insane."

"You must be excited to go back and see everyone." The South African commented.

"Me? You're coming too as well. You went to college there as well!"

"I went there for one semester! I didn't keep in touch with anyone other than you." He didn't seem sad about it, it was just the way things went. A couple of months weren't really long enough to make life-long friends.

"The only people I kept in touch with are Tiffany and Eve and that's why a reunion will be a great chance to see everyone again." Kelly got to her feet and walked over to the mirror to begin examining her non-existent roots. "I'm excited now...oh God, I need to get the money together to get my hair done – my roots are terrible – plus I need to buy a new dress-"

"You haven't seen anyone in five years, they won't know if your dress is new or not!"

"That's not the point." She stepped to the side and ran a hand over her slim stomach. To earn some more money, she'd been taking extra shifts at the restaurant and was eating Italian food for dinner every night and was therefore worried it was starting to show. "You don't think I'm-"

"You look amazing." Justin read her mind and stood up, walking over to his girlfriend and standing next to her in front of the mirror. "All the guys at the reunion are going to be very jealous of me because I'm with the most beautiful girl to graduate from the whole class."

"Babe," A smile stretched across Kelly's lips as she turned around to wrap her arms around her boyfriend's neck and plant a kiss on his lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." He kissed her back, grabbing her by the thighs and hitching her legs up so they went around his waist. "What time do you have to be at work?"

"Six."

"Well, that gives me plenty of time to have my wicked way with you." Their lips met once again in a passionate kiss as Justin carried his giggling girlfriend into the bedroom and dropped her down on the bed that was waiting for them.

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Hope you enjoyed and please leave a **review! **:) xx

**Next time – **_A big crack is beginning to show in the marriage of Maryse and Ted DiBiase._


	2. Our Perfect Lie

Thank you to everyone that's reviewed this fic :)  
FF's been a pain and hasn't been letting me update but no fear, I'm baaaaack (with chapter two!) !

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**OUR PERFECT LIE**

Ted DiBiase had always loved Sunday mornings. Throughout his childhood, his mom would wake him and his brothers up so they could all go to church and support their father, who was the town minister back in Mississippi. The DiBiase boys would then spend the afternoon playing football down at the local park with their dad and when they got home, their mom would've prepared a hot meal for them.

Upon enrolling in college, the church times kind of went out the window for Ted. Instead, he'd wake up with a hanging headache but it would usually be cured by the good-looking girl in his bed next to him. She'd kiss him until he felt better, hell she'd even go down to the cafeteria and grab him some food. Sunday mornings in college were awesome.

Five years on, that good-looking girl was still in bed next to him only this time, her ringing cell phone was waking him up far too early.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ted looked out from under the duvet to see Maryse running around the bedroom in search of her cell phone which she'd left in the ensuite bathroom. She was already showered and dressed in a black pussybow blouse, black Louboutins and a camel skirt – when your wife is the fashion director at _M _magazine_,_ one of the top fashion magazines in America, she'll rip your head off if you don't know the technical names what she's wearing.

"_Of course I'm awake_." He listened to Maryse answer the phone in the bathroom, as she fixed her hair and make-up. "_Alicia, have you spoken to Andre? If Andre doesn't send over the newest Jimmy Choo collection, it's my ass on the table, not yours...well tell Andre that you work for Maryse DiBiase and see how he acts then... yes sweetie, if you hadn't already realised, I'm a pretty big deal in fashion_."

Ted rolled his eyes at his wife's ego before burying his head under the pillow. In some ways, Maryse was just the same girl he fell in love with in college but on the other hand, she was a much more determined woman now. Back then, she was just an English student with no idea what she was going to do once college was over. All it took was a summer internship at _M _for her to realise that fashion was her calling.

Time passed and the blonde worked her way up the ladder. She graduated with her English degree whilst working at _M_ whenever she didn't have a class. After college, she started working at _M_ full time and it was on the up from there. She started as an unpaid intern, then a paid intern, then a fashion assistant, then a fashion contributor, then a fashion stylist until about a month prior when she was promoted to fashion director, overseeing all the styling and features that went into the magazine. It was a big responsibility but Maryse knew what she wanted and wasn't going to stop until she was editing and the _M _in the magazine stood for Maryse.

Maryse and Ted began seeing each other in sophomore year of college although Ted fell for Maryse the first time he saw her across a crowded college party. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and he knew that eventually, she had to be his girlfriend. Old-fashioned romance was the way to the French-Canadian blonde's heart; leaving flowers and chocolates outside her dorm until eventually she agreed to a date.

That was all that was needed; one date and there was no going back. That led to an engagement and then to the wedding of Maryse's dreams. They both earned a fair amount of money, with Maryse working in fashion and Ted as the head architect at a successful local firm so they splashed out for the special day, one Maryse would never forget; Christmas Day, a snowy white church, a glamorous affair.

Ted also knew he'd never forget how beautiful Maryse looked that day; the Vera Wang wedding dress and the flawless hair and make-up were nice but it was the smile and glow of her face that he knew would never leave him. Then again, Maryse looked beautiful every day and he thought it as she sauntered back into the bedroom that morning.

"I have to go to work." Maryse didn't sound as if she were apologizing; it was a matter-of-fact thing. "Alicia's fucked up a shoe order and I have to go sort it out."

"You're the director, can't you leave your assistants to sort this out?" Ted tugged at one of Maryse's hands, pulling her down onto the bed so she sat on the edge reluctantly. "Besides, it's not even ten on a Sunday morning. Just a few more minutes-"

"Ted..." She spoke in that stern tone that made Ted feel like a schoolboy that had done something wrong.

"Yes?" He sat upright and pulled her onto his lap, her legs wrapping around his waist and her heels digging into the expensive bed sheets. Ted trailed a line of kisses across Maryse's jaw and down her neck, his lips grazing the Chanel No.5 scent that coated her skin until he reached the tie on her blouse. Teasingly, he yanked it so it opened, just revealing her Victoria's Secret black bra. If there was one thing Maryse liked, it was good lingerie. Ted liked it too.

"I have work." She said again, this time warming to Ted as she stroked the back of his neck with the back of her index finger.

"I know."

He sank his hands into her hair and laid her down so she was underneath him before getting to work on the hindrance of the buttons on her blouse. Once it was undone, he left a trail of kisses down her torso and went under her skirt to find the waistband on her tights and silk underwear so he could pull them down around her ankles. Ted was just about to pull off his own boxers when Maryse tucked a finger under her husband's chin and pushed it up so she was looking into his eyes.

"C'mon Ted, you know I haven't taken my pill."

And that was the end of anything happening. As Maryse pulled her shirt, panties and tights, Ted sat back on the bed quietly. Underneath all perfect marriage facade was a problem that had been rooting for a while, one that had been the source of many of the couple's fights.

In most relationships, it was the woman that was keen for kids to come into the equation and often the man took a little more convincing. In the DiBiase couple's case, it was completely the opposite. From the second he put a ring on Maryse's finger, Ted made it obvious that he wanted to be a father and the blonde seemed happy enough with the idea of being a mom.

Since Maryse's promotion to fashion director, however, her priorities had changed. It was work first and everything else had to fit around that. She'd go to work early and would be gone until late at night. Anytime Ted brought up the possibility of kids, a fight would break out. Maryse would yell about how it wasn't the right time and with her job being so hectic, there just wasn't time to be at home on maternity leave. If she was feeling extra moody, she'd ask if he even cared about her career at all.

Of course Ted cared about her career. He loved Maryse more than anyone and her happiness was so important to him but it just seemed like the right time. They'd been together for years and kids seemed like the next logical step for them. At Ted's work, he was in charge and was take some time off or work from home. On both sides, they had a pretty hefty income and they could afford to give their child everything they needed.

The circumstances were perfect. Why wasn't Maryse as ready as Ted was?

"I know what you're thinking Ted and I don't like it." The blonde took her handbag off the top of the dresser and rifled through, checking everything she needed was in there. "I've got a busy day ahead of me and I don't need the stress of knowing you're angry with me."

"I'm not angry-"

"Yes you are and don't try to deny it. I've told you I'm not ready and you keep trying to force this problem on me and it's not fair of you-"

"Ryse!" He sat upright, rubbing his eyes and groaning. No other words were needed as they both exchanged icy glances across the bedroom.

"Like I said, now's not the time." She said decisively, her voice softer than before. Slinging the Fendi tote over her shoulder, she walked over to the bed to give Ted a quick kiss on the lips. "I don't know what time I'll be back tonight – I have a meeting with the editor about the tenth anniversary party. I'll call you – let's do lunch."

_Let's do lunch?_ _What was he, one of her clients?_ Ted thought bitterly. On the surface, however, he allowed Maryse's face to linger in front of his before he said "Okay. That's fine."

"Great." She blew Ted a kiss from the door and he listened as her heels clicked down the stairs until eventually the front door closed and he heard her car pull out of the driveway and speed down the street.

The alarm clock on Ted's bedside table read '9:30AM' and he sighed; she was gone _this_ early? It had to be a record. He didn't work on weekends and his wife being at work meant he had the house to himself to the day, which was hardly going to be fun.

He went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth before hopping into the shower. Ten minutes later, he hopped out and changed into some dark jeans and a black Ralph Lauren polo t-shirt – he was a simple kind of dresser and no matter how much Maryse begged, he didn't want her dressing him in 'the latest trends' – no army boots, skinny jeans and none of those t-shirts that showed off a guy's 'man cleavage'. He had a uniform; work was shirts and trousers, weekend was t-shirt and jeans and he was happy to stick to that code.

Once he was washed and dressed, he went down to the kitchen and got breakfast together. Compared to Maryse who could barely prepare toast, he was a master chef, barbeques being his speciality. When the couple first got a place together, they'd spend many a long summer evening sitting in their backyard whilst Ted worked the barbeque and Maryse's only responsibility was pouring wine. They hadn't done that in far too long, Ted decided as he poured himself a glass of orange juice and chewed on a piece of toast.

He went outside to the mailbox and pulled out a couple of letters; mostly bills or fashion catalogues for Maryse but there was one unfamiliar letter addressed to 'Mr DiBiase and Miss Ouellet' – clearly they hadn't got the memo that they were married now. He tore open the letter and read about his upcoming college reunion. As soon as he'd read over the letter, he went back inside to grab his cell phone and found his best friend in his contacts.

"_It's not even ten!"_ Cody obviously didn't see any need for greetings as he answered his best friend. _"What the hell is your problem?" _

"Good morning, sunshine." Ted joked. "Sorry, I guess it is pretty early. Maryse left at nine thirty to go to work and I've been up since then...couldn't get back to sleep."

"_The two of you got into a fight again?" _

Normally Ted was a private person but there wasn't anything he could keep from his best friend from college; they'd become more like brothers over the years. "Yeah but that's not why I called. Did you get the five year invite?"

"_That I did." _Cody replied. "_Are you gonna go?" _

"Don't see why not. It could be fun to see everyone again. You must be excited to see Kelly again."

"_Okay, why does everyone keep saying that? Dustin wouldn't shut up about her when he found out about the reunion." _

"Because you were in love with her for like...four years and you never got the chance to tell her because she had a boyfriend." Ted said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "What're the chances she's still with Justin? Slim, I say so it could be your chance to go for it."

"_I wasn't in love with her."_

"Sure you weren't." He decided to change the subject, seeing as Cody now appeared uncomfortable talking about it. "Anyway, seeing as Maryse is probably not going to be back until some ridiculous hour tonight, do you want to come over and watch the game or something?"

"_Will there be beer?" _

He walked over to the fridge and opened it; neither Maryse nor Ted had done any shopping in awhile so it was pretty empty. "Sure, I could get some beer."

"_Sweet, just let me get rid of the chick that's asleep in my room. I'll be round at eleven." _

Ted smirked as his best friend hung up the phone. Cody Rhodes, ever the ladies man. DiBiase attached the five year invite to the refrigerator with a magnet in the hope that Maryse would see it, despite the fact his wife hadn't been in their kitchen for about two weeks, preferring Starbucks stops throughout her day.

Instead of thinking anymore about the problems he and Maryse were having, Ted decided he'd head to the store and pick up beer, chips and pretty much all the food they were missing. Maybe once Cody left, he'd go for a run. Anything to get out the house which now made him so miserable.

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Please leave a **review**, kiddiewinks ;) x

**Next time – **_We're introduced to Eve Torres, Mike Mizanin and their lives then and now._


	3. Waking Up

Hello my darlings :) Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and I hope you like chapter 3!

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**WAKING UP**

_They both collapsed onto the bed of her hotel room in a heap of hands and lips. He kneeled over her, moving his hands from her smooth ankles all the way up to the hem of her too-short black dress. For a moment, he stopped, considering whether it would be quicker to peel it over her head or pull it down her body. _

"_You, Miss Torres." Mike bent down so his lips hovered just above hers. She didn't allow him to say anything else, taking his face in her hands and pulling his mouth onto hers. When he pulled away, he was grinning. "You, Miss Torres-" He repeated. "-are wearing far too many clothes for my liking." _

"_I guess we'll have to do something about that." She sat upright and tugged the black dress over her head and threw it down on the floor. _

_He arched an eyebrow at the sight of her – she wasn't wearing underwear. "Going commando on graduation?" His hands ran along her sides before cupping her ass in his hands – damn, he'd wanted to get his hands on that ass for a long time and now he had it, he didn't plan on wasting a second. "Eve Marie Torres, you're a dirty girl." _

"_And you, Michael Mizanin, talk too much. Now get your pants off." She instructed, licking her lips as she watched her arch nemesis strip down to his boxers. What was it they said about sleeping with the enemy? Eve didn't care; it was her final night of college and she'd just graduated. Also, she'd had a lot of champagne and there was no harm in getting a little friendly with the douche bag she'd never see again._

"_I think it's definitely time we stop the talking now." Mike decided, wrapping an arm around Eve's waist and pulling her down on top of him. _

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When Eve came back to reality, she was still in a meeting with her fellow publishers, much to her dismay. Her cheeks felt slightly flushed so she picked up one of the manuscripts and lightly fanned herself with it. _Not that dream again_, she thought. She decided to tune out whilst her boss continued to discuss the plans for the next couple of months until eventually, he told them all they could go and she said a silent hallelujah.

Other than the dull staff meetings, Eve really enjoyed her job. After getting her English degree at college, she wasn't too sure what she wanted to go on and do, until one of her professors told her about an internship at _The Salt House_, one of the top book publishers in the country. They dealt with finding new writers and getting them into the mainstream. Five years had passed since she first started there and despite still being young, Eve was considered to be one of _The Salt House_'s best workers. Perhaps that was partly due to her being married to her job but that was a minor detail.

The brunette made her way back to her office, carrying a stack of manuscripts in her hands. As soon as she got inside, she dropped all the paperwork down on the desk, sank down into her chair and slipped off the heels that had been wrecking her feet. She was considering giving herself a mini-foot massage when there was a knock at the door and her friend Gail Kim came into her office.

"Latte for the lady in lilac?" Referring to Eve's purple shirt, Gail placed the giant coffee cup in front of her and perched herself on the edge of Eve's desk. "You're welcome."

"Much appreciated. I nearly died of boredom during my meeting so coffee is just what I need to pep me up."

Gail was one of Eve's oldest friends. She was a couple of years older than the brunette but their parents were friends so they vaguely knew each other from childhood. Back when she was fresh out of education, Eve needed somewhere to live and Gail had a spare room going at her apartment. She allowed Eve to live there rent-free for a while, just while she was getting her bearings together. Eve now had money to live on her own but she and Gail stayed close.

The Korean beauty previously worked as a banker in the city however harsh economic times and the implosion of the bank she worked at meant she was left unemployed so Eve decided she could repay the favour. _The Salt House_ needed an assistant to run some errands and yes, it was a step down for Gail but she needed the work and was grateful to Eve for getting her the job.

"So tonight," Gail began, taking a sip of Eve's coffee, earning her a glare from the Latina. "You and I are going for drinks before Tyson's birthday gathering. We'll meet Nattie and everyone else at the club. I invited Nattie but obviously she's going to spend the night with her fiancée." Eve nodded in response. "And do I have a treat for you," She rubbed her hands together with a smile. "Remember my friend Alex Riley?"

Eve pursed her lips; Gail had a lot of friends and it was hard to keep track of which one was which. "Remind me which one he is."

"He's the guy from Virginia; good looking, funny, charming...completely your type. Well, anyway, he's moved into town and I was thinking of setting you guys up on a date."

"Gail, you know I hate being set up on dates." Eve sat back in her chair and folded her arms stubbornly across her chest. She and relationships just didn't mix, especially if the relationship was started through a third party. She wasn't lonely, just independent. "And I'm sure Alex is a great guy but I'm just not interested-"

"Something tells me if you met Alex, you'd change your mind." Gail took a post-it note from Eve's desk and scribbled down Alex's number. "I'm just gonna leave this here and leave you to do what you want with it."

"Thanks Cupid."

"No problem." She winked. "Also, on a work note, Tim wanted me to ask you about the Truman Awards Ceremony next month...?"

"I'm not going and I've let Joel know that. I've booked the night off because it's my college reunion that night." Eve explained.

"Wow, that'll be fun." Gail said enthusiastically. "Seeing all your old friends again."

Eve shrugged. She kept in touch with the ones she wanted to but other than that, Gail was right. Occasionally she'd meet up with Kelly and Tiffany for lunch and sometimes she and Cody would grab a drink but other than the odd phone call here and there, ties were reasonably sparse. Eve was the kind of girl that had lots of friends but no real close ones and that was definitely the case with her old college buddies.

"What about that girl you used to be really close with? Her name escapes me, something French..."

"Maryse Ouellet." Eve said bitterly. Or, Maryse DiBiase as she now was "We don't speak much anymore."

Back in college, Eve and Maryse were the best of friends. The two girls were as close as sisters, from freshman to senior year. It was just a shame that after graduation, Eve was the only one that seemed to make the effort to stay in touch. She called and emailed but it appeared Maryse had turned into a fashion industry bitch that didn't have time for her old friends. Eve would hear about Maryse from Cody, who heard about her from Ted. Maryse and Ted were married now and living the good life, by the sounds of things.

"That's a shame. Maybe you guys will patch things up at the reunion." Before she could say anything else, Gail's pager buzzed, signalling she had other things to attend to. "I'll catch up with you later."

Gail left Eve's office, leaving the Latina to ponder the past and the present. Her college days were some of the best of her life and she thought of them with fond memories. With the reunion coming up, she wondered what would happen. Maybe she'd see Maryse again and all would be forgotten. Maybe the French-Canadian would be a total bitch and things would be even worse.

Either way, Eve was intrigued and not all of her thoughts were on Maryse. On graduation night, she never considered the possibility of seeing people again for reunions and in less than a month, she'd have to come face to face with the man she despised. He was a jackass but gave her the best sex of her life and Eve knew that if she saw Mike Mizanin again, there'd definitely be fireworks, one way or another.

* * *

Mike had lived on his own for a long time, so to come home from work and find his living room covered with his best friend's boxes was definitely a change of scenery. Amongst the mess stood a sheepish looking Alex Riley, who held a beer in his right hand and a guilty grin on his face.

"I didn't realise I had quite so much stuff." He admitted with a nervous laugh.

"Nice to see you've made yourself at home." Shaking his head and smiling, Mike loosened the purple tie around his neck and grabbed a beer of his own from the mini-refrigerator that was strategically positioned between the Xbox and television. "Cheers." He tapped his bottle against Alex's. "To new roommates."

It was going to be an adjustment for Mike but it was one he knew he could get used to. He'd known Alex since elementary school and even after the Riley family moved from Ohio to Virginia when the boys were in ninth grade, they managed to stay close. Mike would even spend two weeks every summer at the Riley family's Virginia lake house after they moved and 'Miz' (a nickname given to him by Alex) hoped they might have as much fun living together as they did back then.

Well, they were going to have fun living together while it lasted. This wasn't a temporary arrangement. Alex had just moved into town to take a job in the city and whilst he was getting settled in, Mike offered him the spare room at his house, just while he was finding his feet and earning some money.

"So what time does Gossip Girl start? I need to set the TiVo." Alex grinned at the worried look on Mike's face. "Kidding."

"Getting the jokes in early...cute." Mike commented, crashing on the couch and turning on Entourage.

"Oh, by the way, I left your five year reunion invite on the fridge, it arrived in the mail this morning."

"I know. Guess which hotel is hosting it?"

The college's self-professed chick magnet and joker Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin was now managing the hotel that would host the school's five year reunion. The Monty Garrett Hotel was one of the best in the city and about a year prior, Mike had taken over as manager.

Hospitality was the industry for Mike. He was a guy's guy that also knew how to charm the ladies. After college, he travelled for about a year before eventually settling down in Tampa, Florida – the sunny weather and chicks in bikinis definitely screamed 'dream city' to him. He gained some experience as a barman before eventually supervising the restaurant of a hotel down south for about two years. When the opportunity to take over a hotel back east came up, he packed up and moved.

"So if people start acting up, you'll have the option to kick them out?" Alex sank down into an armchair.

"Don't kid, that might actually happen. There were some real characters in my class."

"Anyone you're particularly excited to see? Any asses you didn't get round to tapping?"

A secretive smile settled on Mike's lips. There was one ass he'd wanted to tap for four years of college and on graduation night, after a little too much alcohol, he tapped it in what was the best sex of his life. And Mike had had a lot of sex. Eve Torres was sexy and feisty and yes, she was a bitch to him but he couldn't get enough of it.

Seeing her wouldn't definitely perk his night up.

"What're you smiling about?" Alex asked.

"Just...excited about the reunion."

* * *

...Please leave a **review**! :) xx

**Next time –** _Jay and Tiffany find themselves thinking of each other. _


	4. Do You Remember

Thanks for the chapter 3 reviews! Also, big love to those of you that said happy birthday to me :) I had a verrrry sweet 17 and it was made even sweeter by your messages!  
Anyway, here's chapter 4...

* * *

**DO YOU REMEMBER**

Tiffany Terrell arrived home from work that Friday night exhausted. She adored her job – no-one could deny that – but it was a lot more tiring than people thought and after a long week, all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with her fiancée, order a takeout, watch some bad TV and open a bottle of white wine.

"Honey, I'm home!" She called jokingly as she struggled through the front door with her bags, keys and the quick grocery shop she'd done on the way home. "Where are you, Drew?"

When her fiancée wasn't in the living room where Tiffany expected to find him, she went through to the kitchen and once again, he was no-where to be found. Slipping off her ballet flats, she jogged up the stairs but all the rooms were empty. Drew told her he'd be getting in from work early but apparently this wasn't the case. The blonde decided to check her cell phone, which inevitably had one missed call.

"_Hey, it's me. Just letting you know my meeting was postponed by a couple of hours and I'm just about to go in now. I think it's going to run on late which means I won't be back until...well, late. I'm so sorry to do this to you but I'll make it up to you tomorrow. I promise. See you later." _

Disappointed, Tiffany put her phone back in her handbag and went up the bedroom, deciding since Drew wasn't going to be home, she could scratch any plans she had made. She changed into a pair of soft grey sweatpants, a pale pink tank-top and her fluffiest, warmest socks and pulled her hair back with a clip. Afterwards, the kitchen was the next stop and from one of the drawers, she took out the menu for her local Chinese delivery. She grabbed the phone and ordered herself a crab and corn soup, some crispy duck with extra wontons. Once ordered, she went to the fridge and popped open the Chardonnay she'd had chilling and took a sip straight from the bottle.

"I guess this is how it is when you're engaged to a man who's already married to his job." Another sip of wine and Tiffany sat down at the kitchen table, bottle raised in her right hand. "Happy anniversary, Mr McIntyre!"

It was two years ago that day that Tiffany and Drew had their first date although they knew each other long before that. The McIntyre and Terrell families were friends and Tiffany had spent many a summer break staying in Ayr, Scotland. Their parents would constantly joke that the two were going to end up together but neither thought anything of it. It was only years later when Drew moved to the east coast of American for work that the pair reunited.

Of course, Mr and Mrs Terrell were adamant that their daughter 'show Drew around', which she did. They began to spend lots of time together until eventually, Drew asked Tiffany out to her favourite restaurant. After that, they were an official item, much to the delight of their parents and about four months prior, Drew had proposed to Tiffany and although they hadn't made any plans yet, a wedding seemed to be in the pipeline.

People assumed that when you fell in love, it was easy but Tiffany knew that wasn't the case. They had their fights and it wasn't a perfect relationship but she knew that in the end, they always got through it. Besides, the beautiful blonde was reluctant to admit she'd never end things, partially because she knew how much it would upset her parents. She was a people pleaser and always had been.

In high school, she was the girl that was capable of everything. The head cheerleader was also a straight-A student, prom queen and all-round nice person. She was 'that girl' because her parents would be disappointed with anything less than that. Her whole life, Tiffany had wanted to teach elementary school but her mom and dad always thought she could do so much more. So, always out to impress, whilst training to be a teacher, she studied literature on the side and gained a degree in that. When it came to her career, however, that was the one thing that her parents couldn't choose and she became a teacher.

Giving herself an assertive nod when she caught a glance of herself in the kitchen window, Tiffany told herself she was lucky. She was engaged, had a great job with a steady income and a good group of people around her and if she told herself otherwise, she was crazy.

Tiffany stood up and went over to the refrigerator, looking to find food that would suppress her appetite until the Chinese arrived. Before she opened it, she smiled. That morning, an invite to her college reunion arrived in the mail and she'd attached to the refrigerator with a magnet. In all honesty, it excited her more than anything had in a while.

College had been the best time of Tiffany's life. It was the first time she'd been away from her parents and she'd learnt so much that wasn't even taught in her classes; the late night parties, the early morning lectures, the amazing people. Tiffany couldn't fault her college experience because it had been an amazing couple of years.

Actually, there was one thing she would go back and change. She thought back on some of those late nights that weren't spent partying, but sat in classrooms with one of her literature lecturers. It seemed like just yesterday that they'd sit close together at his desk, their knees practically touching as they read and discussed Chaucer and F. Scott Fitzgerald together.

If Tiffany could go back, she'd ask him if he felt that spark that she did. She'd ask him if he felt the butterflies she did when their eyes met across the crowded lecture hall or when she stayed to speak to him after class. Hell, if she weren't so shy, maybe she'd have kissed him...just once. Just to see if it was how she imagined it would be. Those lips had spoken so many intelligent words to her but to imagine them doing something else...

The blonde shook her head, returning to reality, and looked at the fridge blankly. What had she planned to take out of there? She'd completely forgotten. Here she was, on her anniversary, thinking about the college lecturer she never even had in the first place.

Well, that was what happened when you were engaged to a man who's already married to his job.

* * *

Entering the slightly dark city bar, Jay Reso only took a second to spot Adam Copeland sat at their usual table, waiting for his friend with two beers ready. He crossed the sea of tables and took a seat next to Adam and without a word, he cracked opened the beer.

"Someone's had a long day." Adam grinned.

"I don't have any classes on a Friday but I went onto campus anyway and marked term papers on Chaucer all afternoon which was possibly the most mind-numbing way to spend a day." Jay's beer bottle was now half-empty and he decided to ignore Adam's 'Who's Chauncey?' comment. "Anyway, what've you been up to?"

"Today? I woke up, Amy and I had sex, she called in sick from work and made me lunch, we had sex on the couch and then I came here to see you. Chances are, when I get home, Amy and I will have sex again." Adam's grin couldn't get any wider. "God, I love the honeymoon period when your wife is horny twenty four seven. Don't worry, it'll happen for you when you and Trish get married."

Jay rolled his eyes at Adam. His best friend had got married a month earlier and since getting back from his honeymoon in Aruba, all he and his wife seemed to do was call in sick from work and have sex. Then again, Jay knew if he were in that position, he wouldn't be complaining.

In actual fact, it was only a couple of months until Jay's wedding to his yoga instructor fiancée Trish Stratus. At Amy and Adam's housewarming party three years ago, Jay had been introduced to Amy's stunning best friend Trish. The then-blonde and the college literature tutor went on a date the next week and got along, leading to a long-standing relationship between the two. The engagement of Adam and Amy made Jay realise that if he didn't act soon then Trish wouldn't hang around. Maybe it wasn't the right choice but Jay proposed to Trish and she accepted.

"So how's the wedding planning going anyway?" Adam asked.

"I'm leaving it mostly down to Trish. As long as I show up wearing a tux with some vows prepared, everything will be fine." He replied with a smile. "It's September now but I think Trish wants the wedding in February...Valentine's Day specifically." Honestly, Jay found it kind of cliché but it was what his fiancée wanted.

"Oh before I forget," Adam dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out some tickets. "Hockey tickets. My treat. Well...Amy's. Her company gave them to her but she's working that night."

"As am I." Jay checked the date and sighed. "I've got to go to one of the college's five year reunions."

"Man, I don't know how you do it." Adam laughed, running a hand through his hair. "All those horny college chicks, probably throwing themselves at a good looking teacher like yourself. You must be a kid in a freaking candy store."

"It's pretty easy. I fuck a student, I lose my job."

And that was something Jay knew first hand. The truth was, Jay didn't _have_ to go to the reunion but he wanted to. His reasoning was wrong and he knew he should have been over her by now, but unfortunately, he wasn't. Student teacher relationships were strictly forbidden but if Jay could've bent those rules for just one night, he would've. Not just because Tiffany Terrell was hot but because he'd truly fallen for the girl that sat at the front of his class over five years ago.

What first stuck out about her – other than the inevitable beauty – was her intelligence. This girl was training to teach elementary school and despite the fact literature was just a side study, she still got some of the best grades in the class. He then began to see how mature she was – yes, she was a college student but when he spoke to her, she'd speak with such = knowledge and understanding.

There was no harm in Jay finding his students good looking but it was one night after class that he began to see Tiffany differently. She'd screwed up one of her essays – well, she only got a C but considering she was a straight A student, that was pretty bad. He later discovered it was because her grandma died the night before and the essay hadn't exactly been her priority – and he asked her to hang around after class. They went through it together and improved it until it was an A again. It was only when the beautiful blonde was leaving that she revealed it was her birthday and she'd blown off plans with friends to spend the evening with him.

He saw the way she looked at him and he wanted to look back at her but he couldn't. He couldn't stay away from her either. Nothing would ever happened between them, Jay knew that but whenever she asked him to help her with her next essay, he'd jump at the chance to spend a few extra hours with her in class. Hell, sometimes they'd even go out together as friends to see movies or go to poetry readings. If one of the other members of faculty found out, his head would be on the chopping block but somehow, he didn't care.

Was he leading her along? No, Jay didn't think so because Tiffany knew just as well as he did that it was entirely pointless to ever wish for anything to happen. The night Tiffany graduated was one of the most heartbreaking of his life. Technically he could've made a move but it wouldn't have been right. In his head, she was still his student and all he could do was give her a polite hug and wish her well.

Sometimes when he lay next to his fiancée at night, he'd think of Tiffany; he could see her smiling in his head and could even smell her flowery perfume. It wasn't wrong to think of her back then – he didn't have a girlfriend and was completely single – but now he was with Trish and somehow, he was still lusting after the student that had most probably moved on. She could be absolutely anywhere now and he had no idea.

The only way he'd know was if she showed up at the reunion.

* * *

Right, so there's the four main stories introduced.  
Out of interest, which one are you most into at the moment? Cody/Kelly/Justin? Maryse/Ted? Eve/Miz? Christian/Tiffany?  
Please leave a **review** :) xx

**Next time – **_Maryse and Eve have a frosty reunion and Cody gets his hopes dashed. _


	5. Reunited: Part 1

Thank you all _very_ much for the reviews and here's chapter 5...

* * *

**REUNITED: PART 1**

The ride to the Monty Garrett had been a quiet one for Maryse and Ted, who'd barely spoken a word to each other. The French-Canadian beauty had sat in the passenger seat, checking her manicure for any flaws and occasionally writing out a text on her Blackberry. Ted stayed quiet in the driver's seat, focusing on the road ahead, speaking up only as they pulled into the parking lot. He asked "Didn't your parents hold your twenty-first birthday here?"

"They did." Maryse looked up from her sidekick to smile fondly at the memory. "They flew in from Montreal and threw me a surprise party. Then again, I'd started celebrating earlier that day by–"

"–buying Versace dresses and drinking cocktails on an empty stomach." Ted remembered with a laugh. "Damn, didn't I pick you up and take you here absolutely hammered? I think I made a roadside stop and forced three bottles of water and a Big Mac down you."

"Then I threw up in the hotel bathroom...oh my God, I remember Eve was with me, holding back my hair and we realised my mom was in the cubicle next to us so Eve covered for me and said she was the one throwing up because she'd used gone-off chicken in her salad at lunch! Everytime I thought I was going to throw up, I had to drag her along with me. Awful."

Ted pulled into the nearest parking spot, finding it difficult to stop laughing. "No wonder you were throwing up all night, you chugged about nine rum-based cocktails."

"I think you'll find it was the Big Mac that didn't agree with me. I was fine until you fed me that crap." Maryse argued, playfully slapping her husband across the chest.

Turning off the engine and facing his wife, Ted placed a hand on her knee. "I remember picking you up from the mall that day and yeah, you couldn't stand up straight or walk in a line but you wear wearing this cream dress and I remember thinking how truly stunning you were – even hammered." He added jokingly. "I also remember thinking how beautiful you'd look on our wedding day."

"You really thought that?" She whispered, feeling thankful the night was dark and therefore he couldn't see the blush in her cheeks.

Ted nodded and Maryse leant over to kiss him softly on the lips. "I love you Maryse DiBiase, never forget that." It was moments like that that reminded Ted why he was still with her. Beneath all the fights and tears, there was a love there that neither of them were ready to let go.

"I love you too." She pecked his cheek. "Come on, let's go inside."

The pair walked into the hotel arm-in-arm and Ted felt proud to have such a beautiful woman with him. Maryse wore a purple Herve Leger dress with Louboutins and a dazzling smile and he even let her put him in a purple tie so they matched. Ted felt every pair of eyes flicker their way as they entered the main restaurant area where the proceedings were being held and he found himself staring back at everyone. Some people had changed, some hadn't. It was a surreal experience, seeing the people you used to greet on a daily basis.

"Cody's over by the bar." Maryse pointed over to Mr Rhodes. "Maybe you could get me a glass of champagne?"

"Sure."

She kissed him once more on the lips and sent him on his way, before she filed through a crowd of people. Everyone was just as opinionated as they were in their college days. Already, people were talking and she found herself listening into their conversations.

"_Remember Lucky Cannon? He can't be here tonight – motorcycle accident left him in the hospital. Not so lucky anymore, is he?"_

"_Have you seen Tamina yet? At first I thought she was looking a little chunky but apparently she's expecting her third kid. Who'd have thought such a party girl would end up being so vanilla?" _

"_I spy with my little eye Evan Bourne. Last I heard, short stuff was partying it up in Los Angeles with a couple of Victoria Secret models. I guess it was the money that won them over because from person experience, I can tell you it's certainly not anything below the waist..." _

Maryse couldn't help but smile as she listened into the tiny extracts of conversation. In some ways, things weren't all that different. You could still tell who people were from miles off; their mannerisms hadn't changed and the way they looked at you was exactly the same. On the other hand, they were leading completely new lives that Maryse had no idea about.

There was one particular person she was interested to hear about. Out of the corner of her eye, Maryse caught sight of an old friend. Dressed in a short black dress with her hair set in waves, Eve Marie Torres was just how Maryse remembered her former best friend. She was sat at the other end of the bar from Cody and Ted, drinking a vodka and coke, the drink she always ordered back in college.

"Hello stranger." Maryse approached her with a smile. Eve didn't respond with the same look of happiness but Maryse carried on. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough." Eve muttered to herself, not loud enough for Maryse to hear.

"So how are you? We haven't spoken in so long, what're you up to now?"

"Well, I'm still in the city and I'm working at _The Salt House_. You know the book publishers? Oh and before you ask, I'm single." She finished her drink and turned to face Maryse. "What about you? Still a big shot at _M_?"

"I'm now the head fashion director and completely rushed off my feet – I guess that's what comes with being the youngest woman with that much authority. I always knew the fashion industry was hectic but when you get to the top, it's crazy. I love it though and not just because of all the amazing perks. This dress is an exclusive from next season – little fashion secret, purple's going to be the colour on all the runways but shh, you didn't hear it from me."

"My lips are sealed." Eve commented sarcastically, getting to her feet. "If you'll excuse me-"

"Wait, Eve, I want to talk to you-"

"Well, maybe I don't want to talk to you." She turned on her heel to look at Maryse. "Maybe I wanted to talk to you five years ago but you were too pre-occupied with your career to send your best friend an email or a text. Was that really so difficult? We were like sisters for four years but when we left college, you showed what kind of friend you really were."

"Wow, Eve, I'm-"

"No." Eve didn't want to make a scene so she lowered her voice. "In college, you were always there, no matter what but where were you after we graduated? Where were you when my brother almost died of pneumonia three years ago, or when my parents came close to getting divorced or when I was first starting out and couldn't pay my rent?"

Completely stunned, all Maryse could do was shake her head. "I had no idea–"

"It's fine, you were probably focusing on the important things, like whether purple would be on the runway next season." Eve stormed off to the bathroom, leaving Maryse stood at the bar wondering how she'd screwed things up.

* * *

"Damn, I was checking out Michelle McCool," Cody said to Ted, staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror whilst his friend was in one of the stalls. "She is looking _good_. I mean, she was hot in college but now...what happened to her in those five years? She's smoking."

"Hate to break it to you, man, but I don't think you're gonna be getting any from her tonight. I heard a couple of guys at the bar talking about how she's shacked up with an older man down in Texas." Ted replied with a smirk as he left the cubicle. "A rich older man. Not exactly putting that masters in history she got to good use."

"Can't blame her for wanting to live a nice life."

After he washed his hands, Ted looked over at Cody, who was still preening over himself. "With the amount you love yourself, I'm surprised you get any girl to hook up with you."

"What can I say? I'm dashing." He took one final glance before he and his best friend made their way back out to the hotel function room. "You know who else is looking absolutely hot tonight? Remember that girl with the huge–"

"I was wondering if I'd see you guys around tonight."

Walking towards Ted and Cody was Kelly Blank and the latter of the men found himself completely blown away by her beauty; she was exactly how he remembered her.

To say Cody always held a torch for Kelly would be an understatement; it would be more accurate to say there was a large burning fire he carried for her. From the moment he saw her when they were moving into the dorms and he carried one of her bags for her, he'd always felt his stomach tighten whenever she was around. In his eyes, there was nobody more perfect than Kelly; she had everything going for her and what was most incredible, she didn't even seem to realise how brilliant she was. For four years, she was definitely Cody's closest female friends. He could talk to her about absolutely anything and she could do the same with him.

The only problem was, she was already taken. How could a girl that perfect stay single?

Yeah, it bummed Cody out. It was bound to, when the girl you wanted was with someone else and especially when it was impossible to hate her boyfriend because he was a nice guy too but Cody decided it was better to have Kelly in his life as a friend than not at all.

"How're you doing?" She pulled Ted in for a quick hug before moving over to Cody, wrapping her arms around him tightly and pressing a kiss against his cheek. "I was hoping I'd run into you both. What's going on?"

Cody turned to Ted, who made a quick excuse about needing to go see Maryse, and he disappeared, leaving Cody and Kelly alone. "I'm good. How're you?"

"I'm great. God, it's been so long, hasn't it? You haven't changed much, have you?" She looked Cody up and down, the smile not disappearing off her face. "Not that that's a bad thing, you've just retained your pretty college boy looks."

"Well, you're not looking to bad yourself." Her blonde hair tumbled down her back in loose waves and her athletic physique was complimented by a short red dress and heels – Cody definitely had a weakness for women in heels. More than her clothes and hairstyle, it was the fact she'd still kept that same genuine smile that she flashed him every day for four years back in college.

"What're you up to at the moment? Are you living in the city?"

"Yeah, I'm still around. I'm actually working in casting at Dustin's firm and I've been there since college. It's a little boring sometimes but the hours are flexible and the pay's not bad either."

"Wow, what kind stuff do you do casting for?"

"Mostly commercial work but sometimes we get booked for bigger projects which is way more entertaining." Cody explained. "Enough about my boring job, are you acting now?"

"Yeah but you know how unreliable the business can be. When I'm not doing acting, I'm waitressing at _Marcella's _downtown."

"I've never been there. A friend of mine said the good is great."

"It is. Italian food's always been my weakness. Do you remember in college when we'd go to that little dinner in the village and have 'Pizza Mondays'?" Kelly reminisced. "When you work at one of the best Italian restaurants in the city, it's very hard to keep an actor's body."

"So have you got any jobs lined up at the moment?" Cody asked.

"Honestly? Not really...I'm going through a bit of a tough time. The jobs aren't exactly piling in."

"If you want, I might be able to see if we have any auditions coming up and if there's a part, I'd happily put your name forward. It'll probably just be commercial work but hey, it's work, right?"

Kelly's face lit up. "Thank you so much! Commercial work would be ideal. I owe you big time." She threw her arms around Cody. "Shall we exchange numbers?" The pair swapped phones and added their numbers. "I really hate that we lost touch, you know. Of all the people I thought I'd stay friends, you were right there at the top."

"Well, you've got my number now so you don't have any more excuses." Cody handed Kelly back her cell phone. "I'm really glad I saw you tonight, Smelly Kelly."

"You too, Cuddles." She grinned at their old nicknames for each other.

"Hey Kells, I was over there with–well, Cody Rhodes. You haven't changed a bit, man." The reunion between the two friends was cut short as Kelly's boyfriend Justin approached her, wrapping an arm around the blonde.

"Neither have you, Justin." Cody tried not to let himself get disappointed as he realised that Kelly and Justin were still together, even after all these years. As much as he wanted to be shocked, however, he wasn't; Kelly always worshipped the ground Justin walked on and unless he did something dreadful, he couldn't see her letting him go. What made it worse was that Kelly couldn't have been with a nicer, more charming and handsome guy. "I didn't realise you guys were still together."

"I know, it's crazy right?" The happy couple smiled at each other before the South African leaned over to kiss his girlfriend. "What about you? Is Cody still a ladies man or have you settled down?"

Cody thought of his love life. It was always laid back and easy going but lately, there was a girl that had thrown things into disarray. Normally when Cody wanted to end things with a female, he'd tell them he wasn't looking for anything serious and usually they'd get the message. Mickie James, however, wasn't so easy to get rid of, as the beautiful nurse informed he she wasn't looking for anything serious either. He assumed this meant they weren't exclusive – he'd continue to see other women – but anything could happen.

"There's this one girl but it's early days." He told them. "Listen, I'm gonna go see Ted but maybe I'll catch up with you guys later?" As he left, he heard Kelly shout 'I'll be in touch!'. When he reached the bar where he joined Ted and Maryse, he sat down on one of the stools with a heavy sigh, as Ted shot him a knowing look.

Kelly Blank was back in his life, although he wasn't sure if she'd ever really left.

* * *

So the reunion's going to be in two parts - this one and the next chapter.  
There was a lot I wanted to include and I wouldn't be able to fit it all into one chapter.

Like I said above, thank you all _so_ much for the reviews. I'm really excited about this story and when other people tell me how much they enjoy it, it genuinelly means alot.  
Updates are quick at the moment because I have chapters 6 and 7 wrote out as well! Haha.  
Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please leave a **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Tiffany gets a surprise as she leaves the reunion ends and one couple end the night on a steamy note._


	6. Reunited: Part 2

Oh heyyyyy :) Thank you for all the reviews so far.  
Down to business, here's chapter 6...

* * *

**REUNITED: PART 2**

Downing another glass of complimentary champagne, Eve felt tipsy, dishevelled and completely guilty for how she blew up at Maryse earlier on. Embarrassed at her outburst, the rest of Eve's night had been spent sat alone, embarking on a solo pity party filled with free drinks and avoiding eye contact with her former best friend.

She had the opportunity to prove to her former best friend that she was a better person, someone that had made something of themselves in the years they'd been apart but instead, she came across as petty and bitter, which wasn't the case at all. Like Maryse herself, Eve was a career woman – more independent, however, seeing as she was still single – and she had plenty going for her.

"Now _you_ were the last person I expected to see sat alone. Don't tell me the last five years have turned you boring, Torres. Where's the party girl?"

And her evening was about to get worse as she looked over her shoulder and saw Mike Mizanin hovering over her. He had a point though, at college, Eve was the life and soul of every party. After what had transpired earlier, she didn't feel like celebrating. "Not now, Mike." She muttered, finishing glass number four.

"I'm guessing this is about your fight with Maryse? We bumped into each other just now and she told me you really blew up at her." He picked up her empty glass and shook it cheekily. "It's a hotel, not a wrestling ring. Time to lay off the booze, perhaps?"

"Shut up. I wasn't even drunk when I yelled, I was just...frustrated, you know? She hasn't made any effort for five years and she wants to talk to me tonight like nothing's changed? If we lost touch gradually, I'd understand but she didn't even try. Not one little bit." Her gaze followed Mike's as he sat down at the table next to her but she quickly looked away again. "Why am I even telling you this?"

"It's like I always told you, Evie. You can't resist me."

"I can when you call me 'Evie', you know how much I hate that." They'd been sat together for a minute and he was already under her skin. "So what're you doing these days? Spending your days shaving your back?"

"Come on, _Evie_, you know better than anyone that I have a nice back. Graduation night, you couldn't stop digging your nails into it." Mike laughed. Eve didn't. "And you can joke all you can't but you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of the manager of the Monty Garrett."

It took Eve a couple of seconds to realise what he'd just told her. "You're kidding me right?" He shook his head. "Get the fuck out. Who did you have to sleep with to get that position?"

"No-one. My people skills and business initiative were all it took."

"Well, cheers to you." She raised her glass triumphantly. "I'm glad you've made something of yourself."

"What about you? Have you 'made something of yourself'?" He asked, sensing she was softening towards him and topping her up with the bottle of champagne that sat on the table. She briefly skimmed over her job in publishing but there was one detail Mike was much more interested in. "And is there a boyfriend in the picture?"

Eve scoffed. "There hasn't been a boyfriend in the picture for a _long_ time."

"Too hung up on me?"

"Yes, Mike. Five years have passed but I've been holding out for you." As soon as the sarcastic words were out of her mouth, she was blushing. "Not that I haven't had a boyfriend in five years, because I have."

"Look at you, getting all flustered around me. Admit it, you're thrilled to see me again." He sat back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face with his arms folded across his chest.

"Okay Mr Ego, I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I hope your head's exploded by the time I get back."

Mike watched as Eve got up – slightly shakily as the alcohol had obviously hit her – and walked towards the bathrooms. She was wearing a short black dress, similar to the one she wore on graduation night, only a littler classier this time around. He'd be waiting for Eve when she got back from the bathroom; tonight, he wasn't letting her out of his sight.

Well, he hated to see her go but he loved to watch her leave.

* * *

The reunion had finished two hours ago but Tiffany hadn't yet made her way home yet. Instead, she'd stopped off at a slightly dingy all-night cafe in the city and had taken up a table in the corner, drinking coffee out of a polystyrene cup and wondering whether there had actually been any point in her going to the reunion.

It wasn't that she'd had a bad evening. Catching up with old friends and a free bar; it had been perfectly pleasant evening. She saw her best friend Kelly all the time and Eve occasionally but bumping into people like Maryse and Ted, and Cody and Mike was so surreal. There was just one problem with her night, that being the one person she wanted to see most of all hadn't been there.

Perhaps it was wishful thinking of her to believe that Jay might be there. For all she knew, he wasn't even at the college anymore. Five years was a long time and Jay was brilliant at his job; it wouldn't have surprised her if another university offered him more money or a higher position. Even if he was still at the school, teachers weren't obligated to come to the reunions so why would he show up? She felt the spark between them but he never specifically gave her anything to hold out for.

The air-con in the cafe sent a chill down Tiffany's spine. She put on her black coat that had previously been draped over the back of her chair and took a sip from the warm cup, the hot liquid stinging at her lips. Turning her head to the left, she looked at her reflection in the window; the new dress and heels, the perfect hair and make-up; what had it all been for? She tugged her hair out of the up-do it had been tied into and let the waves fall down.

"Can I get a coffee? Thanks."

Tiffany was no longer the only customer in the cafe but as she looked up to see who it was that was speaking, she had to question whether she was dreaming or not. It couldn't be Jay, could it? That would have been far too much of a coincidence. When he turned around to see if there was anyone else in the cafe and he saw her, he shot her the exact same look.

Five years had passed but if it was possible, he was even more handsome than she remembered him to be. His hair had lightened to a sandy blonde, as if he'd been spending lots of time in the sun. Other than the odd wrinkle, his face was relatively crease-free, taking years off of him. In a black shirt, black coat and grey trousers, he looked simple yet dapper, reminding Tiffany of why she fell for him in the first place.

If it was possible, she was even more attracted to him than she had been in college. Fireworks. She felt like a student again; her stomach was doing flips and her mouth had dried out. Their eyes stayed locked for a moment, before the guy at the counter told Jay his coffee was ready. He took the cup and went over to Tiffany, sitting down opposite her and continuing to stare at her.

"I didn't see you at the reunion." She spoke up first, her throat catching on the first couple of words.

"I was out of town for the day and I meant to come home for the reunion in the evening but there was an accident on the bridge and I got held up. I literally just got into the city." He took a sip of coffee but winced, deciding it was too hot. "How was it?"

"It was okay." Tiffany shrugged. "About fifty percent of the people have completely changed and the other fifty percent are exactly the same."

"And which half are you in?"

She blushed. "Both? Neither? I'm not really sure."

"I hope you haven't changed too much. You were fine, just the way you were." He smiled, making her positively beam. "So tell me everything about your life right now."

"There's not a lot to tell, if I'm honest." Tiffany admitted. "I'm teaching elementary school and other than that, it's pretty standard. All I can say is that I definitely don't have enough time to read as many books as I did in college."

"We did read a lot...well, I still do. I'm starting to get a bit sick of Chaucer. Don't let the other members of faculty know." Jay said with a laugh. His gaze dipped down to her ring finger and it was a crushing blow to him. It was doubly crushing, considering he wasn't one to judge. "Who's the lucky guy? Anyone I know from college?"

Tiffany held up her hand, looking at the diamond that rested against her finger. "An old family friend, he's from Scotland actually."

"Does he make you happy?"

At that moment, a look of hesitation crossed Tiffany's face. It was unintentional but Jay had definitely seen it. She quickly covered it up with a small nod and a final glance at the ring on her finger. "What about you? Are you taken?"

"I'm engaged too, actually."

"And she makes you happy?" Her question was answered by the briefest pause before he eventually gave her a nod not to dissimilar to her own. "I guess that's all that matters." They were both smart enough to know how the other felt but neither said anything for a couple of seconds, both choosing to look around the cafe and anywhere that wasn't the person opposite them.

"So, does this boyfriend of yours have a kilt?" Jay asked innocently, finally able to sip his hot coffee.

The blonde burst into laughter, burying her face in her hands. When she looked up again, she saw Jay smirking across the table at her. He'd never failed to make her laugh in the past and apparently this occasion was no different. "Breaking out the stereotypes early, not bad." She paused to sip, but then said "And yes, he does have a kilt. We went to a family wedding in Scotland and he wore it. Gotta say, maybe I'm just too America, but going into a church where a bunch of guys were wearing skirts...it was a little surreal."

The sound of her phone beeping in her jacket pocket alerted Tiffany and she pulled it out to find she was receiving a call from Drew. She briefly considered answering but instead, she sent him straight to voicemail. "Was that Braveheart?" Jay asked.

"This isn't fair, I don't know anything about your fiancée so I can't make jokes." She slipped her phone back into the pocket of her coat.

"She's beautiful and Canadian like me. Do your worst. Don't change the subject, are you not going to answer to him?"

Tiffany avoided the question again as she zipped up her coat and got to her feet. "I've always liked the village at night. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Jay smiled, finishing up his drink. "I'd like that.

* * *

"Here we go, right in here." With one arm around Eve's waist, Mike tried to use his free hand to unlock the hotel room door. Once it was open, he led her inside and closed the door behind them.

"I'm fine! I haven't even had that much to drink!" She freed herself from his grip and stood in the middle of the room stubbornly. It may not have seemed that way but Eve was actually telling the truth; she was a little drunk but not as bad as Mike was making her out to be. In fact, she was quite the expert at handling her alcohol.

"Now that I find difficult to believe. You ploughed your way through the hotel's champagne supply and you're in no fit state to drive home. You're just lucky I manage this place and managed to get you a room for the night. Believe me, getting a room here at such short notice wouldn't be easy for the average Joe." Mike pulled back the duvet covers on the bed so Eve could climb straight into bed.

The pair had stayed in the hotel bar long after the reunion had ended, until the early hours of the morning flooded in. Most of their conversation was bickering but Mike wasn't ready to leave Eve just yet and the Latina was far too drunk to go anywhere. Not to mention that after her argument with Maryse earlier, she appreciated the friendly company.

"Okay, heels off and get into bed." Mike told her, patting the soft mattress.

Eve wasn't paying any attention to him as she was crouched in front of the mini-bar. When she stood up, holding a bottle of tequila and saw him looking at her disapprovingly, she rolled her eyes. "What? It's a night cap!"

"One person having a bottle of tequila to themselves is not a night-cap, it's an alcoholic's dream."

"So share the bottle with me!" She found two glasses, poured the tequila into them and handed one to Mike, who didn't resist. "Cheers!" Their glasses touched and they both downed the sour liquid, wincing and coughing at the bitterness. Eve commented "It's like graduation all over again. Except that wasn't tequila but–"

"–the bottle of Grey Goose we snuck in." Mike reminisced with a fond smile. "That was a good night."

"I remember that night like it was yesterday. Tiffany spending the whole night at the professors table with Mr Reso, Kelly and Justin joined at the hip because he'd flown back into town especially to see her, Maryse and Ted being the perfect couple like they always were–"

"–Cody attempting to hook up with both Garcia twins, although I think he only hooked up with Nikki in the end." They were both sat on the end of the bed side-by-side, facing inwards with their knees brushing. Mike leaned over and brushed a hand down Eve's arm. "And then there was you and me."

"The outcome of too much Grey Goose."

"You can't say it wasn't fun though."

"Oh, it was a lot of fun. Possibly a little too much fun." She lay back on the bed, smiling lazily.

"Does that mean it's not going to happen again tonight?" He dared to ask.

Instantly, Eve shot bolt upright and stared back at Mike. Her eyes weren't hazy like a drunken person's were; it seemed she was more in control than he originally thought. After all, Mike loved the ladies but taking advantage of the paralytic wasn't exactly a turn-on for him. She didn't seem to react to his query.

When she didn't say anything for a good fifteen seconds, Mike decided it was time for him to leave. He finished up his glass and walked towards the door. "It was good to see you, Eve. I'll come find you in the morning so you can check out."

Just as his hand touched the doorknob, he felt a hand touch his shoulder and he turned around to look at Eve. The beautiful brunette gave into the urges that had taken over her since she and Mike came up to the hotel room and she leaned in to press her lips against his.

It was the shortest and most tender of kisses but when they pulled back, both could see in the other's eyes that more was to come. A brief second was all that was needed to recover before they leaned in again, this time much more passionate in their make out. Their bodies and lips meshed together in a hot kiss as they manoeuvred themselves over to the bed with Mike falling down on top of Eve.

"If you don't want this, I can get the hell out of here." Mike pulled away to break the kiss but instantly regretted it if it meant that something might not happen with Eve.

"I think it might be the alcohol talking...but I don't really care."

She kicked her heels away and yanked off her dress whilst Mike worked on his own clothes. Mike made the quick comment of "You decided to wear underwear this time."

"Last time we were doing this I told you that you spoke too much and you know what? You still do." She tossed away her bra and underwear and wrapped her legs around Mike's waist with a sly smile. "I guess I'm gonna have to change that."

"I knew you'd come running back eventually–"

"Just shut up and get naked."

Five years had passed but as Eve told herself she still hated Mike and there was absolutely nothing between them other than sex, she told herself that actually, very little had changed at all.

* * *

Most of you guessed it was coming... ;) Please **review**! xx

**NEXT TIME – **_It's the morning after the night before and the reunion is on everyone's lips._


	7. Never As It Seems

Helloooo :) Firstly, thank you for all the reviews and feedback I'm getting for the story - it's much appreciated.  
On the other hand, I got a bunch of anonymous reviews telling me to 'update faster'. Umm, there's a bit of a difference between someone saying they hope I update soon and telling me to update faster. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but it sounded a little rude...especially considering I'm actually updating this story quite regularly atm!

Anyway, rant over. Hope you enjoy chapter 7 :)

* * *

**NEVER AS IT SEEMS**

In the first moments of waking up, Eve felt extremely comfortable – more so than she had in a very long time. The mattress beneath her felt much softer than the one she usually slept on and there were a pair of muscular arms woven around her waist, pulling her in close, something she hadn't felt in a very long time.

When she opened her eyes and saw those arms belonged to Mike Mizanin, a quiet groan escaped her and not the kind that had been emitted the previous night.

Eve could recall every detail of what had happened; arriving at the reunion, in short it was the fight with Maryse, leaving the bar with Mike and doing the nasty with him too many times for her to count – she could remember the number but just thinking about it made her feel dirty. Yes, she was hungover but unfortunately not enough to forget her mistakes.

How could she have let this happen? This wasn't like Eve; she barely kissed a guy on the first date, let alone opened her legs for an old frenemy after too much booze. College had taught her many things, one of the main lessons being that Mike Mizanin was a douche bag although apparently when alcohol was concerned, that hadn't been an issue.

What Eve found most shameful was how much she'd enjoyed herself when she and Mike were intimate. There was a certain insatiable chemistry between them that she hadn't had before or since Mike. It was the way he knew exactly how to get her going and although she couldn't speak on Mike's behalf, she was pretty sure it was the same for him.

But sex was irrelevant. This was Mike; the guy she spent four years bickering with and then vowed never to see again. Lightning had struck twice and she wouldn't make it to number three.

Carefully, the Latina rolled out of her sleeping partner's grasp, making sure she didn't wake him in the process. She knelt down to retrieve her underwear and clothing before running her fingers through her hair and checking her make-up hadn't smudged too much. Once she was reasonably presentable, she left the room, closing the door behind her with a gentle click.

That gentle click was enough to wake Mike from his sleep. He looked to his right and realised he'd been woken up by the sound of Eve making an escape – there were still pillow creases from where she'd been. He got up and pulled on a pair of boxers as he walked over to the window that looked out on the parking lot. He watched as Eve's car pulled out, the female inside thinking she'd got away.

Mike knew otherwise, however, as he looked over at the bedside table and saw Eve had left her cell phone behind.

* * *

Kelly and Tiffany had known each other for almost ten years and the actress of the two felt that they were close enough that she could let herself in to her best friend's home when she'd been invited over. The second she stepped into the house the elementary school teacher shared with her fiancée, Kelly could smell coffee which was exactly what she was in the mood for that morning.

Back in college, the two girls were roommates from freshman to senior year and remained best friends the whole time. They were so close people towards the end that people used to think they were sisters and their good friends affectionately dubbed them 'Blondetourage' whenever they went out together. It was a nickname they sparingly used now they were in their mid-late twenties but it always provided them with a good giggle.

"Morning sweetie." Kelly found her best friend in the kitchen with two cups of coffee and a plate of brownies ready and waiting for them. With a grateful smile, she gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before they carried the food into the living room and placed it down on the coffee table. "Your baking will be the death of me, Miss Terrell." She picked up one of the brownies and let the chocolate goodness fill her as she took a bite. "Or should I say, the future Mrs McIntyre?"

"Not for a little while." Tiffany pointed out, sinking into one of the couches. "You of all people should know that, Miss Maid of Honour."

"Well, you haven't made any plans for the wedding yet so I wouldn't know!"

Tiffany let out a nervous laugh, quickly changing the subject "So the reunion last night?"

"Oh my God, wasn't it the most fun?" The perkier of the two slipped off her heels and curled her legs underneath her on the couch. "Seeing everyone again...it was so weird. I barely spoke to you all night because I was so busy catching up with all the people I hadn't seen in five years."

"Like Maryse."

"I actually felt pretty bad for her after she told me how Eve blew up at her."

"I know! Remember how close they used to be? It's so sad how it ended." Tiffany responded with a frown. "I dunno if it'll happen but I hope that somehow they manage to get together and work things out."

The two girls continued to gossip about the reunion and everyone they'd seen. As they both lived close to each other, they saw no excuse not to meet up regularly, especially not on a quiet Sunday morning when neither had to work. Both feared after college that they'd end up losing touch and had gone to great lengths to make sure that didn't happen. Often, Tiffany would invite Kelly and Justin round for dinner with her and Drew and vice versa.

Half an hour later and the reunion was still the main topic of conversation when Tiffany's fiancée Drew came down the stairs, dressed in a bathrobe despite the fact it was almost lunchtime.

"Good morning, ladies." The charming Scotsman came over to the girls and politely kissed Kelly on the cheek before catching his wife on the lips and taking a seat opposite them on the couch.

"Good afternoon." Kelly corrected with a cheeky smile, signalling at his choice of attire. "Late night?"

"My flight from Glasgow came in at one am. What I found most surprising was that when I got back, my beautiful fiancée wasn't here like I expected her to be. I didn't realise college reunions were all-night parties." Drew laughed.

"It wasn't an all-nighter, I got in at three-ish." Tiffany felt Kelly's eyes burning into her and couldn't bear to make eye contact. When she did look over at her best friend, who was staring at her suspiciously, the colour rose in her cheeks; the reunion ended at midnight so what was she doing for three and a half hours?

"Did you get in that late, Kelly?"

Knowing her loyalty lay with her best friend, Kelly went into excuse-making mode "I, well, it could have been–"

"Actually I got in late because I bumped into an old college professor." Tiffany admitted honestly, picking up her coffee mug and taking a sip. The last thing she wanted was to have her friend make excuses for her when there was no need. "Yeah, he wasn't at the reunion but I was getting a coffee afterwards and we got talking and time just flew by."

"Which professor was it?" Kelly asked.

"Mr Reso."

At that, a knowing smile crept onto her face. "Oh yeah, Mr Reso, huh? How's he doing these days?"

"What's so special about Mr Reso?" Drew interjected.

"Tiffany had a crush on her old English professor." Kelly cooed from behind her coffee mug. Despite the fact Tiffany never openly admitted to liking Jay, it was blindingly obvious to all her friends; no-one skipped their birthday night out to go study unless there was someone to stay behind for.

"Seriously? All my old university lecturers were...old."

"Not Mr Reso. He was only ten years older than us and I'm not gonna lie, he was pretty handsome. Tiff worshipped the ground he walked on. I was always surprised nothing ever happened between them."

Tiffany blushed as Kelly continued to talk about Jay in front of Drew. It made her surprisingly uncomfortable so she had to interrupt. "He's engaged actually now." She said, as if proving nothing had happened between them. "He's still working at the college. We just went for a walk around the village and had a catch up, that's all."

"Right, I'm gonna take a shower and then I'm gonna head to the office but I'll be back this evening." Drew got to his feet and kissed his girlfriend once more. "We can spend the whole night together."

"Perfect."

"Kelly, I need you to keep an eye on her if there are handsome college professors back in the picture." He joked as he walked up the stairs.

As soon as he was out of earshot and they heard the bathroom door shut, Kelly turned back to Tiffany with a disapproving arched eyebrow. "Are you going to tell me what really happened?"

"I told you what happened! I went to get a coffee and Jay was there. We started talking, went for a walk around the village – he lives there with his fiancée – and then I drove home! Why don't you believe me?" Tiffany was far too defensive for Kelly's liking.

"Well firstly, you just referred to Mr Reso as 'Jay' and secondly, back in college you loved him! I know you're going to deny it because you never actually said it to me but it was painfully obvious. If it was me and any of my tutors, I'd have said hello, spoke for a couple of minutes and gone on my way but you and 'Jay'? You went for a walk around the village. I'll bet my life savings there were fireworks between the two of you."

Tiffany hated lying to Kelly; especially considering her best friend had seen right through her. "Okay, there were fireworks." She said reluctantly, her voice a whisper, scared Drew might hear despite the fact he was upstairs. "But there's always going to be when it's someone you used to care about. It's not like anything happened – I didn't even take his number at the end of the night."

Unfortunately, that was no word of a lie. When they realised it was the middle of the night, Jay walked Tiffany back to her car. There was a moment where she thought her former professor might go in for a kiss but he didn't and they exchanged a polite hug before he saw her into her car and she drove home. She didn't know what she'd have done with his number if she'd have gotten it anyway but it hurt her more than she thought it would. After a night of sleep, she decided that it was for the best.

"Come on Kelly, he's engaged, I'm engaged, nothing's going to happen. Five years have passed; I've moved on."

Kelly looked at her friend with the same curious expression that she did when Tiffany first told her she'd seen Jay but her face softened and she said "Do you think his fiancée's hot? I bet she's gorgeous."

"He said she was beautiful and Canadian, like him." Tiffany laughed. And they went back to talking about the reunion, taking Tiffany's mind off the man that had taken over her thoughts long before she'd bumped into him the previous night.

* * *

After a lazy Sunday of doing absolutely nothing, Cody decided the best way to spend his evening was in the same position he'd been in all day; on the couch. He'd had the day off and spent his day moving between the couch, the kitchen and the bathroom.

Although he was expecting company, being the charming man he was, he saw no reason to get dressed up and stayed the sweatpants and t-shirt he'd spent the day – and the previous night – in. The sound of a key in the front door alerted him that his guest had arrived and he turned his head to see Mickie James coming through the living room door.

"I come bearing gifts." She dropped two bags down on the couch next to Cody before she took a seat the other side of him, pressing a kiss against his lips. Cody looked inside and saw two pizzas and a six-pack of beer. A smile found its way onto his lips.

"Not bad, not bad. I'll be thanking you for that later."

"Oh yeah?" She smiled seductively, running a hand through Cody's short dark hair. "What did you have in mind?"

"We'll see where the night goes." He commented, cracking open one of the beers with a smile."Where's the uniform, James?"

His nurse girlfriend rolled her eyes. "I went home and got changed before I came out. I don't see why you like the nurse's uniform so much; it's ugly and uncomfortable."

"What can I say? I find uniform very sexy."

"Hey, at least I made the effort. Nice sweatpants, by the way."

"Nothing like a pair of comfy sweatpants on a Sunday night." He decided, finding a slice of pizza to keep his beer company. "Did I tell you that you look lovely tonight?"

"No, you didn't."

"Well you do."

"Thank you." She smiled back, rewarding him with a quick kiss.

The previous night at the reunion and seeing Kelly had definitely given Cody food for thought. To say he'd gone into the reunion confident would be an understatement; he thought that he and Kelly would see each other again and there'd be something between them – perhaps that was the reason he'd kept things flexible with Mickie. He was mistaken however, seeing as Kelly and Justin were still together. Cody may not have liked it but it made him consider his own relationship with Mickie and his relationship with women in general.

Back in high school, Cody had been a one-woman man. He gained a girlfriend in freshman year and minus a two-month hiatus in junior year, they survived until the very end. Both decided not to risk putting their relationship through college and they broke up when Cody moved to the east coast and she stayed in their home state of Georgia.

College was definitely the time when Cody discovered his inner ladies-man. For four years, he'd been a one woman man; he'd kissed one woman, slept with one woman, taken an interest in one woman. Suddenly, he was free, surrounded by beautiful, single females. Being single wasn't alien to him and he was desperate to make the most of it, which he certainly did. Although deep down, there was only one woman that held a place in his heart – the beautiful Kelly Blank – he wasn't going to let that stop him from getting out there.

After graduation, his womanising antics continued through New York, if you could call them that. Cody was never sneaky about relationships; he wouldn't cheat on a girl because he'd tell her to her face that they weren't exclusive. For the five years since he left college, he couldn't think of a relationship he'd had that lasted longer than four months.

That was until Mickie came along. Their relationship hadn't been serious until the previous night after the reunion when he'd called her up and told her he wanted them to be exclusive. Perhaps he'd been slightly intoxicated at the time after he and Ted went out for a few Jägerbombs but that wasn't the point. Kelly and Justin had been together for over a decade and they weren't going to end any time soon; it was time for Cody to start looking for something with a little longevity.

He looked over at Mickie, who he'd met almost a year ago at a New Years Eve party. At the time, the nurse was dating someone else so he didn't make a move. They bumped into each other a couple of months later in a bar and there were sparks; Mickie was single, Cody was single, there was no harm in the two of them going out. Cody couldn't fault anything about Mickie; she was attractive, funny, intelligent, easy to hang out with – if he weren't dating her, he'd want to be her friend.

There was just one problem with Mickie; she wasn't Kelly and she never would be.

"What? Have I got pizza on my face?" The brunette laughed, turning her head and catching her boyfriend looking at her.

"No, you haven't."

Cody turned back to the TV but as he did, Mickie's gaze flicked over to him. "How was the reunion last night?"

"It was fine." He shrugged innocently, despite the fact Kelly's face crossed his mind like a bolt of lightning. "Saw a few people, drank a few beers, not a lot happened."

"Any exes hanging around? A few ghosts from girlfriends passed?"

"Please, I didn't have girlfriends in college. Back then, I liked to keep my options open."

"Back then?" She scoffed, giving him a smack across the chest. "It took you a good five months to commit to me."

Cody sat upright, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Um, you said you weren't looking for anything serious either?"

"For someone who considers themselves to be such an expert on women, you have a lot to learn. A woman may say she's not looking for anything serious but that couldn't be further from the truth. Women are always looking towards the future, seeing where things are going. They want the knowing that there's longevity."

"You included?"

"Well, I am a woman."

Silence formed between the duo as both settled back down on the couch, pretending their attention was on the television. The last thing Cody wanted to do was hurt Mickie and to think he'd potentially done that by not committing to her sooner hurt _him_ more than he expected it to.

"I'm sorry." He couldn't quite bear to look down at her, so he kept his eyes fixed on the TV. "I didn't mean to–"

"Please don't. I hate seeing grown men grovel."

"I didn't plan on grovelling." He laughed. That's one of the things he liked about Mickie; she didn't take things too seriously and if ever things got too deep, he could rely on her to break the mood. "I just don't want you to think that I was leading you on or anything–"

"And I didn't want to seem like one of those needy girls that bullied the guy she was seeing to admit how he felt...if he felt it at all." Sensing things were getting far too deep, Mickie finished up her beer and wiped her hands across her jeans, getting to her feet. "Wanna head to bed? I'm tired."

"Tired? Or _tired_?"

"There's a difference?" She said with a laugh, despite the fact as she headed towards the bedroom she was already stripping off her heels and jacket.

Their laughter filled the bedroom as Cody picked Mickie up and dropped her down on the bed, already stripping her of her clothing, despite the fact that Kelly still filled his head. It didn't matter that he and his girlfriend had just shared a nice moment; it would always be the blonde that took over his thoughts. He tried to push her out of his head. For five years, he'd been doing his best to stop thinking about her and he was sure he could do it for one more night.

* * *

Please **review** :) xx

**Next time - **_Old friends meet up and Ted's parents come over for dinner._


	8. Table Manners

Hello again! Here I am with another update :)  
Hope you enjoyed chapter 7 and here's chapter 8!

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**TABLE MANNERS**

A cup of coffee was exactly what Tiffany needed to start her day, particularly considering her job involved spending the day with hyperactive kids. That's why her first stop on the way to work was always the Starbucks ten minutes from her house. As she joined the queue of people on their morning commute, she went down into her handbag in search of her wallet, sensing it was definitely time for a latte and possibly even a blueberry muffin, if she could drive and eat at the same time.

She mentally checked off a list of things she had to do that day; in her English class, she was getting the kids to write short stories. In math, they were tackling six-sided shapes and it was an afternoon of Egyptians in history.

When Tiffany was first training as an elementary school teacher, everyone told her that she could do better and she was so much smarter than what it entailed but she loved her job. For her, there was nothing more rewarding than seeing one of her kids learn something new and receive such joy from it. Spending a year with a class and watching them grow before setting them free was a beautiful thing and everytime the year ended, she'd wave them goodbye with a small lump in her throat. People winced when she told them she was a teacher but it didn't matter because it filled her with so much happiness.

She put forward her order to the girl at the counter, who quickly reeled off a latte and blueberry muffin in amongst the breakfast rush. Tiffany knew it would probably have been faster to have fixed herself something at home but in a strange way, she enjoyed her morning visit to the bustling coffee shop.

"There you go," The girl behind the counter handed her the order, to which the blonde shot her a dazzling smile. "Have a nice day!"

"You too." Tiffany quipped, turning on her heel and making her way out. Just as she was about to pass through the door, she turned back to the building queue where she noticed a familiar face stood at the back. He looked completely in his own world, staring straight ahead at the busyness. How was it possible that they'd lived in the same city for five years since she left college and hadn't seen each other and now a week after the reunion, here she was bumping into him again.

Without a second thought, Tiffany headed back inside and pressed a hand against his upper arm. When Jay turned around, a smile spread across his lips as he acknowledged her. "Tiffany! I didn't expect to bump into you again."

"I'm here at this time every morning – how haven't I seen you before?"

"Normally my classes start later but today I have an early morning lecture to run so I thought a cappuccino would help me through it." He ran a hand through his sandy hair and shot her a lazy smile. "Man, I hate mornings."

"You get used to them, especially when you have to put on a smile and act really energetic in front of an elementary class of about twenty five. If I'm not cheery, they don't want to learn!" Her own smile was filled with much more energy than his. "And I recommend a blueberry muffin too; gets me through every day."

"I'll bear that in mind." He observed how good she looked considering it was still early. Her hair was straightened and had a black headband keeping the whole look neat. She didn't look to be wearing much make-up and she just looked so simply elegant, something she'd been able to pull off since college.

"Well I'd better get going–"

"Wait," When Jay hadn't taken Tiffany's number after the reunion the previous week, he'd been cursing himself ever since. The thought of losing her again had been a surprisingly difficult one to deal with and he wasn't planning on making the same mistake again.

"Yeah?"

"There's a literature event in town next week – it's a big three day festival and there's writers coming into the city to do talks and readings and other stuff. You might've heard about it or even been. I don't know if you're still even interested in literature but if that sounds at all appealing to you, you should definitely come along."

"You mean, we could go to one of the events together?" Tiffany didn't show it but she was a little too excited at the prospect of spending more time with Jay.

"Yeah. I mean, if you wanted to, you could invite Drew along." Jay added quickly, not wanting to seem too forward.

"I dunno, he's not really interested in literature...he'd probably fall asleep, not to mention he's super busy with work." It was true; Drew didn't like reading and his schedule was packed but hanging about with both Jay and Drew at the same time was an uncomfortable thought so she dreaded to think what it would be like if it actually happened. "Were you planning on taking your fiancée?"

"Honestly, Trish is a little less Jack Kerouac and a little more Jackie Collins. She never really comes along to these things with me and that's why I'd appreciate the company."

"Well, I'd love to come. I don't really know any of the details though–"

"Here, let me take your number. I can text you mine" Jay went into his Blackberry and handed it to Tiffany so she could type in her number. Once she was done, she handed him back the phone with a small smile. "I guess I'll–"

"Next!" The pair were completely cut off by the sound of one of the Starbucks workers shouting for Jay to get to the counter.

"It's fine, I'd better get to work anyway." Tiffany signalled at the door despite the fact she wasn't actually moving. Upon hearing the barista shout 'NEXT!' slightly more impatient this time, she winced. "Text me, okay?" And with that, she exited the coffee shop and got into her car, expectantly awaiting Jay's message.

* * *

All morning, Gail had been craving Japanese food. Perhaps it was because on her day off yesterday, she'd spent an hour watching Rachel Ray do a special on Japanese chicken fingers and seared tuna with Japanese salsa. Whatever it was that was making her hungry, it was enough for her to call up Hakubai, one of the best Japanese restaurants in the city, and make lunchtime reservations for herself and Eve.

When Eve told Gail that she had to stay in the office over the lunch house to finish a manuscript, the Korean beauty had made a last minute call to one of her friends, who luckily was on his lunch break and was able to come meet her. Just as the waiter had shown Gail to her table and she was ordering herself a drink, Alex Riley entered.

"Leaving it until the last minute, Gail? I always thought you were much more organised." Alex grinned, sitting down at the table opposite his friend and giving her a quick peck on the cheek in the process.

"I'll have you know I'm one of the most organised people at my office. Comes in the job description of being an assistant."

"Oh yeah, I was sorry to hear you're not at the bank anymore. That must've sucked."

"Well, it was hardly ideal but hey, that's the way the economy is. One minute you're the chief finance director at one of the top banks in the city, the next you're doing coffee runs for a group of publishers." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt guilty. She really appreciated Eve for getting her the job – if it weren't for her, she'd be struggling to make ends meet – but it wasn't what she wanted to be doing and it was a huge step down for her. "Anyway, that's enough about me. Welcome to New York."

"Much appreciated, Miss Kim." Alex and Gail had met a couple of years prior when Alex was dating Gail's cousin Savannah; the pair were no longer a couple but remained close, as had Alex and Gail. "I spy beef teriyaki on the menu, this place is looking promising. So other than work, what's going on with you?"

"The usual. Working nine to five, going out in the evenings."

"Seeing anyone?"

"Kinda, it's early days though." Always open to meeting new people, Gail allowed her friend Nattie to set her up with one of her friends, Daniel Bryan. They'd been out a couple of times but not enough for her to start calling him her boyfriend or to consider it anything particularly serious. "Anyway, it's not my love life I want to talk to you about. It's yours."

"Oh?" The intrigue only continued for Alex as the pair were stopped by the waiter taking their order. As soon as he disappeared into the kitchen's, Alex turned back to Gail. "There's nothing to tell. I'm single at the moment."

"How would you feel about changing that?"

"Depends on who the girl is."

"Eve Marie Torres. Five foot eight Latina and possibly one of the most beautiful women you'll ever see. Our parents are friends, we used to live together and now we work together at _The Salt House. _She's intelligent – went to college here in the city – and extremely athletic. You name it, she can play it. Interested?"

"You got a photo?"

Gail went into her jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone, finding a picture of her friend somewhere in the images folder. "There." She handed it to him and sat back in her chair, satisfied. It was a great photo – the pair of them before a night out looking primped and preened. "Something tells me you're not going to be saying no to her."

"She's good looking, that's for sure. Are you playing her wingman?" Alex laughed, handing her back the phone.

"Barely, she's pretty reluctant to go out on this date...not because of you, she's just not keen on the whole blind date thing. She probably doesn't trust my taste in men."

"With good reason."

"Shut up. Besides, this is just as helpful for you. You've just moved to the city and you know me...that's pretty much it. You're a loner; you need all the friends you can get."

"Hey, I've got my roommate too."

"Clearly I underestimated your popularity." Gail said with a small smirk. "Whatever, you and Eve are so well suited that you'll be thanking me later at the Riley-Torres wedding where everyone will be asking how you two met and I'll be able to say 'It was all down to me'."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, I've gotta get through this lunch with you first."

Gail ignored her friend's comment, instead she sipped at her drink, content that her match-making skills were coming to fruition. Yes, when Eve found out Gail went ahead and set her up with Alex despite the fact she said no, she'd probably go through the room but Gail didn't care. She was happy enough to listen to the tiny patter of Riley-Torres children. In her head, of course. She would make an _excellent_ godmother.

* * *

"Maryse, these seared tuna steaks are absolutely beautiful. I never knew you were such a wonderful cook."

"Thank you, Helen but it's really just a simple recipe I found on the internet and managed to whip together this afternoon."

Lying through her teeth, the French-Canadian shot her mother a demure smile as she ate her meal. She was more Rachel Zoe than Rachel Ray and the seared tuna steaks with fennel and orange salad was in fact the work of a catering company she'd called in that afternoon to prepare a dinner for her in-laws. All Maryse had had to do was reheat the food and put it on plates. Doing the cooking herself hadn't even crossed her mind; she could barely make pasta without causing the smoke alarms to go off.

"Well, hats off to the chef." Mr DiBiase – whose name was also Ted – mocked tipping his hat, before returning to the meal.

"Mmm, the _chef_ did a great job." Ted junior was well aware none of this food was his wife's handiwork and he turned to look at her, a smile on his face.

"I really am impressed, Maryse." Helen continued. "Truthfully, for a little while, I questioned your homemaking skills. Clearly you have this exciting career going on as well and you hear all about these career girls that focus all their energy on their job and end up with nothing else – no marriage, no kids, no life outside the office. Obviously you being married to Ted shows you're the exception."

"Well, I try." The only blonde at the table smiled, sipping from her glass of 75 Lafite. She stole a glance at Ted next to her.

"And that's brilliant; just as long as one day, being the exception means you provide us with a set of beautiful grandchildren."

"Hopefully we won't be waiting too long for them." Mr DiBiase commented. "Brett and Leah just had twins and I think they're gonna be in need of some cousins!"

As much as Maryse liked Ted's parents, she couldn't help but feel pressure from their side to have children. The source of many of the couple's recent problems had been related to that very subject and when Ted's parents unintentionally backed every word he was saying, it didn't help their issues.

When she married Ted, Maryse knew he wanted children; she'd been with him long enough to know he was a family man through and through. But they were only twenty seven so why was there such a rush? Was it so wrong that for a little while, Maryse wanted to build up a career for herself? Ted knew how important it was for her to be successful as a business woman so why wouldn't he let her have that? She was becoming established in the fashion industry and getting pregnant might jeopardise her position; in this industry, there was always someone younger and hungrier than her working their way up the ladder and maternity leave was like relinquishing her crown.

That wasn't to say she didn't want children in the future. She wasn't sure if she could ever see herself being a soccer mom in a nice suburb outside the city but someday, she wanted a child she could spoil and adore. It just irritated her that Ted couldn't be more patient; her maternal instincts obviously weren't as forthcoming as his paternal ones.

"One day." Maryse told them patiently.

"Have you been to visit Brett and Leah yet?" Helen asked, referring to Ted's younger brother and his wife of one year.

"We went down two months ago for the weekend, a couple of days after the babies were born. Beautiful kids." Ted commented. "Two lovely little boys."

Of course Ted's _younger_ brother and his wife had children before Ted and Maryse, only increasing his parents expectations. Even before the pregnancy, Brett worked full-time whilst Leah worked part-time; they were in a different situation because she was in a place where she was ready to have children and Maryse wasn't going to be bullied into having kids if she wasn't there.

"Isn't Leah a little young to be having kids? She's only twenty-two." Maryse was desperately trying to find a flaw in the seemingly perfect arrangement.

"Better to have them whilst you're in your prime."

"Absolutely." Helen agreed with her husband. "I wouldn't want to be an older woman running around after her babies–"

"I think it's time for dessert." Slightly irritated by all the baby talk, the French-Canadian began gathering up the empty plates and carried them out into the kitchen. As much as she liked Helen and Ted Senior, the topic of children was becoming a repetitive cycle of conversation, one that came up every time they came into town.

Whilst she served up the desserts – also made by the caterers – onto plates, she could hear her in-laws chatting to their son in the other room, Ted's father being the first to speak. _"Is everything alright with Maryse tonight, son? She seems...distracted."_

"_She's just tired. She's been working a lot recently." _

"_You'd think now the pair of you were married, she'd consider slowing down a little." _Helen commented, her harsh words the only thing Maryse could focus on as she couldn't see her face. "_Have the two of you discussed starting a family yet? Does she know you want children? Does she even want children?" _

"_Of course we've spoken about it. Like I said, she's busy with work and it's not the right time." _Ted defended his wife.

"_For you? Or for her?" _

There was a long pause where no-one said anything in the other room. Maryse even stopped moving in the kitchen, waiting for her husband to spring to her defence. When he didn't, she felt her heart break a little bit.

"_We were considering getting out of the city for a weekend next month. Connecticut's always nice in the autumn and Maryse's cousin rents out a house over there." _Ted completely changed the subject. _"It should be great to get out of the city for a couple of days." _

_"_I've always found Connecticut to be a little underwhelming." Helen commented distastefully, just as Maryse re-entered the room holding crème brûlée for the awaiting dinner guests. "Oh, if I'd have known there was crème brûlée, I wouldn't have eaten so much for the main course."

Maryse couldn't help but agree; she'd suddenly lost her appetite.

* * *

Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME - **_Mike shows up at Eve's office, Kelly gets in touch with Cody and Jay and Tiffany meet up. _


	9. Back In Your System

I've got to say, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the positive response I'm getting for this story :)  
As I've said, you guys are amazing.  
This is a bit of a filler but I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**BACK IN YOUR SYSTEM**

Mornings had never really been Eve's thing and as she stumbled into _The Salt House_ for an early meeting, a Starbucks cup cradled in her hands like a life raft and her hair tied up in a slightly shabby ponytail, she realised this was more true now than ever before.

Her meeting was in ten minutes and Eve had only been sat down at her desk for about fifteen seconds before there was a knock at the door and Gail entered, looking too perky and too beautiful for such an early hour. The Korean hung around in the doorway, sensing any time before ten am wasn't ideal. "I come bearing bad news."

"Oh my God, it's eight am. I can't handle bad news." Eve took a long drink of her cappuccino before looking up at her friend again. "Okay, go."

"Tim's still out in L.A with the movie companies doing script stuff–"

"'Doing script stuff'?" She smirked at her friend's professional language.

"I got a jumbled message on my answer phone this morning and I kinda wasn't really listening because Far East Movement was on the radio and I was too busy dancing round my kitchen." Gail rolled her eyes. "Basically, he's gonna be in California for the next few days so that means no meeting."

"So I could've stayed in bed for an extra two hours but instead, I'm sat at my desk with nothing to do?"

"Actually, Tim also said he's emailed you some stuff he wants you to have done by the time he gets back at the end of the week." Biting down on her lip, she seriously wondered whether Eve was going to punch her. "I'm gonna guess this would be a bad time for me to tell you that I went out for lunch with Alex and you may or may not have come up in conversation?"

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate it when you play Cupid?" Eve commented breezily.

"If I don't listen to my boss, what makes you think I'm listening when you talk?" Gail joked, receiving a death stare from Eve as she dared to take a sip of the Latina's cappuccino. "Kidding! Just think about it, okay? You still have his number that I gave you, right?"

Eve couldn't respond as there was a knock at the office door and she went over to answer it. The man stood before them was handsome and well-groomed, wearing a grey suit with a black shirt. His smile was charming but it was directed at Eve.

"Gail, can you give Mike and me a couple of minutes?" Completely oblivious to whom this guy was, Gail raised an eyebrow behind the guest's back before scuttling out and leaving the pair alone. As soon as the door was shut, Eve sighed, sitting back in her chair. "About two weeks have passed since the reunion; I was convinced I'd gotten rid of you. How did you even know I'd be here?"

"You told me where you worked – something I'm assuming you wouldn't have done sober. I think you'll be relieved I came when you see what I have for you." Mike dug into his pocket and pulled out Eve's cell phone, placing it down on the desk. "You left this behind the other week. Sorry I couldn't drop it off sooner, work's been crazy."

Relief flooded over Eve. "I've been wondering where this disappeared to. I suppose I have to thank you, right?"

"I suppose you do...oh wait, are you talking about the phone or the night we spent together?" He said with a small smirk. Instead of responding, a tired Eve just placed her head in her hands, unable to come up with a catty response off the top of her head. "You never were on the top of your game in the mornings."

"You're all dressed up, don't you have to be at work? You came to return my phone, which you did. I've thanked you. What else do you want me to say?"

"I'm interested to know why you ran out on me after the reunion." He sat down in the chair opposite her desk, his arms folded as he waited for a response. "Was I surprised to wake up without you there? Definitely."

"You can't honestly say you're surprised."

"Well I was."

"We spent four years arguing before we slept together on graduation. We spent a night arguing at the reunion before we slept together after the reunion. Something tells me that other than sex, we don't get along all that well." She reasoned. "Besides, everyone hates the awkward morning after talk so I cut that out for the both of us."

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard." He didn't get to say anything else as his own cell phone began to ring in his trouser pocket. "I've got to get to work but you know we're not done here, right?"

"Oh how I wish we were."

Mike smiled. "Maybe I'll come pay you a visit some other time."

"Don't feel you have to."

"That wasn't a question, Evie." He told her as he exited her office, leaving the Latina to let out a frustrated squeal as she let her head fall down onto her desk. She couldn't count the ways he managed to irritate her.

"And who was that guy? He was gorgeous!" Of course, Gail stuck her head around the door, wanting to know all the gossip about Mike. Eve shot her friend the second death stare of the morning, leaving Gail to back out of the office slowly and decide to leave her friend alone until she was feeling a little perkier.

* * *

"You go, girlfriend! Let that jackass know that you are an independent woman that can make it without that waste of space sponging off you!" Realising she was clearly getting far too into the episode of _Maury_ she was watching, Kelly shuddered and turned off the TV. "Damn, you have got to get out more." She muttered to herself, getting up off the couch and taking her empty coffee mug into the kitchen.

Staying at home and watching people air their dirty laundry on television wasn't how Kelly intended to spend her day. She had an audition lined up for a play in the city but theatre types were temperamental when it came to time management and the audition had been rescheduled. This meant a day in her sweatpants, watching TV and telling herself she wouldn't eat ice cream from the bucket but eventually giving into the devils that were Ben and Jerry.

"I could go to the gym." She said aloud, staying firmly away from the freezer where the tub of Cookie Dough was. "Or I could go shopping?"

She knew that neither of those were going to happen. She wouldn't go to the gym because she was feeling far too lazy and she wasn't going to go shopping because her wallet wasn't heavy enough for a new pair of Levis that she so badly desired. Her attention was soon drawn away from the kitchen and over to her cell phone as out of nowhere, she remembered Cody.

It had been about a fortnight since the reunion and Kelly still hadn't got in touch with her old friend. Seeing him again reminded how much she missed the guy that had once been a brilliant friend to her and it seemed lazy not to get in contact. They lived in the same city and the fact they'd once been so close was a good enough reason for her to pick up her cell phone and call him.

'_Hey, you've reached Cody Rhodes' voicemail. I'm not around so leave a message and I'll get back to you.'_

"Oh, I didn't expect to get your voicemail...it's me, Kelly. Kelly Blank. Sorry, I don't know how many Kelly's you know. Anyway, I'm rambling. I just wanted to tell you how good it was to see you at the reunion the other week – sorry, I didn't call sooner by the way, I've been busy." That was a lie; she forgot but didn't want to tell him that. "Oh my God, I'm still rambling. Okay, let me start over–"

When the machine cut off, Kelly furrowed her brows. Had the message _really_ been that long? No, it hadn't. She'd probably just lent against the 'End Call' button by accident. With an irritated sigh, she redialled.

"Sorry about that – you know how sensitive these touch screen phones are. Anyway, we should meet up soon. I don't know when you're free but we should definitely meet up some time. How busy are you? We could grab a coffee or you could come over for dinner. Oh my God, you should come over for dinner! Bring that girlfriend of yours too! Oh, it'll be fun! I'm gonna hang up before I started rambling again so...just call me back whenever."

Kelly ended the call intentionally this time and smiled, placing her phone down on the coffee table and going into her bedroom. The blonde wasn't the tidiest of people and Justin never wanted to clean up her mess for her so the floor was usually scattered with her clothes here and there. Deciding to be slightly productive, she began piling her clothes into her wardrobe and chest of drawers but as she did so, her attention was taken by the collection of picture frames that sat on the drawers. Her camera had always been one of her most prized possessions and she loved taking pictures, particularly capturing memories of her and those she cared about.

At the centre of the drawers was a picture of her and Justin from back in college when Kelly visited her boyfriend in California. The photo was taken when Justin had a day off work and he forced Kelly to hike up Runyon Canyon with him, much to her displeasure seeing as she wanted to spend the day shopping on Rodeo. In the end, it was a beautiful day and the photo showed that, the pair of them stood at the top with Hollywood behind them. When it came to photos, neither of them seemed to agree on what was a nice picture – there was the picture from her 21st birthday ("look how squinty my eyes are!") or the one from the top of the Statue of Liberty ("my hair is all over the place!") – but they both agreed this was a lovely photo.

There were some other photos scattered on the wooden surface. There was one of Justin on his last birthday with his best friends Heath and David, as well as one of him and his parents on their thirtieth wedding anniversary. The rest of the pictures were Kelly's; there was her and Tiffany the night after her friend got engaged, one of her with her parents and sister and a few other pictures with friends.

One of her favourite photos wasn't actually on show, instead it was tucked away at the top of her wardrobe. Kelly was awful at updating photo albums and just kept everything on her laptop and all her hard copies in a large cardboard box in the cupboard. She perched on her tiptoes to grab the box before bringing it down onto her bed and scrambling through until she came across the picture she was looking for. "Bingo." She smiled, despite cringing slightly at the white baseball cap Cody persuaded her to buy.

It was taken in junior year of college when Cody took her to a Knicks game after Ted pulled out at the last minute to look after a flu-filled Maryse. Kelly wasn't a massive basketball fan but they had a really good evening together; even if the fan sat behind them almost dropped her camera when she asked if he would take a photo of her and Cody together.

Just seeing that photo reminded her how much Cody meant to her and how much she treasured his friendship. She remembered how her friends would always question how they managed to keep things so platonic but for them, it worked better that way. The possibility of there being something more never even crossed her mind, considering she was already in a relationship.

The smile still present on her face, Kelly left the photo out on the bed and put the box away. She propped the photo up against one of the frames and left it there. Now Cody was back in her life, it seemed only right to have him out on display.

* * *

Whenever traffic got bad, which was around 99.9% of the time in the city, Tiffany wondered why she even bothered to use her car. It held her up even more than if she decided to walk.

After the school day was over, it was parents meetings until five which as usual ran on due to inquisitive moms and dads, meaning that Tiffany was forced to rush home, shower and get dressed before getting back into her car and driving to the local theatre where the literature festival was being held. One good thing was that Drew was at work so she didn't have to stop and explain to him why she was in such a rush but as luck would have it, traffic had only gotten busier. In the end, the blonde parked her car about ten blocks from the theatre and jogged there, stopping two blocks away to walk so she didn't look too distressed.

She caught sight of herself in a nearby car window; what was a girl meant to wear to an up-and-coming writer's reading of one of his short stories? Tiffany settled on a pair of dark skinny jeans, a grey cropped blazer and some heeled ankle boots – the latter making the impromptu mini-marathon quite a challenge.

Cursing herself for not leaving more time as she approached the theatre, she wondered if Jay would've gone inside without her, leaving her to navigate her way through a dark room to her seat. Or even worse, would he have left the theatre altogether? Neither of those were the case, thankfully, as she found him waiting in the foyer, looking more than a little relieved when he saw Tiffany coming towards him.

"I was starting to wonder if I'd been stood up." He semi-joked nervously.

"I am so sorry! Traffic was a nightmare so I parked ten blocks away and ran here–"

"Wait, you ran here? We still have another–" Jay looked down at his watch. "–four minutes until the reading starts. Plus, I've already raided the concession stand and picked these up." He pulled a packet of Red Vines out from behind his back.

"My favourites."

"I know, I remembered. Unfortunately there weren't any blueberry muffins."

Tiffany smiled, remembering her encounter with Jay the previous week. Another memory sprung to mind and her smile only widened. "Do you remember that time we went to the movie theatre together? It was just after Christmas in senior year of college and–"

"–we went to see that foreign film at the Angelika but the usher told us the wrong screen so we ended up watching a Pixar movie. That guy was hopeless." Jay grinned. He wore a pair of grey jeans and a black leather jacket – normally Tiffany wasn't a fan of guys in leather but Jay was so handsome he pulled everything off effortlessly. "Shall we head inside?"

The pair of them headed inside and took their seats, three rows back from the stage. It was in one of the smallest rooms – only about ten rows in total, with a little stage and a stool in the middle of it for the reader to sit on. The audience was predominantly made up of arty types, as you'd usually find at these literature festivals, and it made Tiffany cringe a little.

"Sometimes I wonder how many of these people are actually here for the books and how many are just posing." Jay whispered in Tiffany's ear, glancing over at the woman to his other side, wearing a stereotypical beret and black turtle neck. "She can't be for real, can she?"

She didn't get to respond as the lights lowered and the writer walked on stage – Tiffany wished she could pronounce his name but it was something long and French. When he read, he spoke with a thick accent that she occasionally struggled to hear but most of the time, she managed to follow him.

It was a nice story, she decided. Set in Paris, it followed a young French debutante who was promised to one of the wealthiest men in Paris. Unfortunately, she found her greatest pleasure in knowledge and she begged her fiancée to get her a tutor to teach her English. The teacher was an Englishman, a dapper gentleman that managed to woo the French girl away from her cosy life. It was a beautiful story, one that often forced Tiffany to sympathize with the girl that had to fight these feelings she was forced to suppress.

The only fault Tiffany found was the ending; the girl didn't run away with the Englishman, instead leaving him heartbroken and her living a lie with the man her parents approved of. She found it incredible how hearing this man tell the story he wrote could move her so much.

Throughout the reading, the blonde found herself stealing glances at Jay from out the corner of her eye. He was listening intently to what the writer was saying but every so often, his arm would brush against hers or he'd return her look with a friendly smile.

Everytime he did so, she felt her stomach fill with butterflies.

* * *

**NEXT TIME – **_A fight occurs between Maryse and Ted and two couples join up for a dinner party. _


	10. Past and Present

Thank you for all the reviews so far, guys :) I read every one with a smile on my face!  
Anyway, here's chapter 10...

* * *

**PAST AND PRESENT**

"You'd better have pulled something good out of the bag." Maryse told Alicia as she let her assistant lead her onto the photoshoot set where an undernourished model in a tunic that swamped her tiny frame and killer heels, sat eating a salad out of a plastic container. And when Maryse said salad, she literally meant a pile of dry lettuce leaves.

"Stand up," Alicia's eyes widened at the model, who got to her feet and twirled, showing off the outfit to _M_ magazine's fashion director. "So, what do you think?"

"Not bad." The blonde made a few adjustments to the model; removing the thread bracelets and replacing them with a chunky bangle and rolling up the sleeves of the outfit. "The hair needs to be tied up, she's got a great neck that we need to show off. Only problem is she's too skinny – I know it was all in to be size zero in 2008 but the starving look isn't working."

The model looked offended but didn't complain.

"My advice? Put a little dressing on those sad little leaves and cut back on the cigarettes. Models smoking is also very 2008 – I wish someone would tell Kate Moss that. No-one's going to want to hire you for a beauty shoot if your fingers are as yellow as the summer Chanel polish they put you in."

Alicia politely shoved the model back into the dressing room and closed the door, leaving her to face the full wrath of Maryse.

"Like I said, it wasn't a bad job, it just needed some improvements, although I must admit that the YSL tunic I selected would have been slightly more flattering than this one." When you do the generous thing and let assistants style shoots, mistakes would be made. One thing she did know, however, was that you should never _completely _destroy your co-workers egos. "The shoes are cute though. Oddly enough, I think they're cuter than the Manolos I picked out. Kurt Geiger?" Alicia nodded, proud that her hardest critic was complimenting her. "Adorable. But we need to put some leggings underneath so her knobbly matchstick knees aren't on show."

Maryse didn't consider herself to be a bad boss; she was a perfectionist that knew how she liked things done and in the long term, she was making someone like Alicia a better worker. She knew the assistant was the future of this magazine and by being hard on her, she was helping her. People may have called her a bitch but that was a title she was willing to accept – Anna Wintour didn't get where she was by kissing ass.

"Go get the model." She instructed. "We need to start shooting in a couple of minutes – and if you can, try and get her to eat something filling. There's pasta down in catering, try and force some of that down her."

In fact, she cared about the magazine's models more than she let on. In her years at _M_, she'd seen far too many girls come and go looking as if they were on death's door, all for the sake of 'fashion'. Yes, clothing looked better on skinnier models but it wasn't worth risking their health for. Usually she refused to work with size zero models unless they were willing to put on some weight. She herself wasn't some stick insect; she had breasts and hips and she liked it that way – so did her husband.

Speaking of her husband, just as Alicia disappeared off the shoot, Maryse's Blackberry buzzed in her blazer pocket and she pulled it out to answer. "Hey honey."

"_Good evening to you too." _Ted replied. _"Just wondered whether you'd be home anytime soon – it's almost eight o'clock and I thought you said you were going to try and get the night off so we could do something together. I reserved a table at Chess for eight thirty. What's going on?" _

The blonde went into her office so she could speak to her husband without the prying eyes and ears of the rest of the fashion team. Once the door was closed, she said "They delivered the wrong tunic so we have to work with Donna Karen instead of YSL, not to mention the model was late and she looks like a bag of bones so I'm doing everything in my power to bulk her up a bit – hopefully she'll bloat before we start shooting. Everything's been pushed back and I'm so sorry but we're going to have to reschedule."

"_Seriously? Come on, can't you just get away a little earlier?" _

"We haven't even started shooting yet! Chances are, I'm going to be here until about half eleven and I have to go in early tomorrow to meet with the editor. That meeting should be finished by midday but after that, I'm all yours."

"_And you honestly can't just skip tonight?" _Ted sighed.

"This is my job, Ted. It's not like you can cancel architecture projects and meetings so you can spend the night with your wife."

"_Actually, I'm the boss so I can." _

"Oh." She remembered her husband's senior position and rolled her eyes, feeling lucky he couldn't see her. "Well, like I said, tomorrow afternoon we can do something together. We could grab a late lunch or something."

"_Fine." _

"Why do you still sound angry with me? I've said we can do tomorrow."

"_I'm not angry, it's just...you leave for work early, you come back late and even on your days off, you're always getting calls from Alicia about fashion stuff. Call me crazy but I feel like it's work, work, work with you and I can't get a look in anymore–"_

"Maryse, we need you out here!" Alicia burst into the fashion director's office. "The model's throwing a diva fit because apparently the lighting makes her look fat."

She knew things between them hadn't been right for a while and perhaps she had been putting her career first but that didn't mean she loved him any less. "I have to go, Ted. We can talk when I get home." Filled with guilt, she hung up on her husband and walked back outside onto the shoot, trying to push any thoughts of him to the back of her mind as she continued with the task at hand.

* * *

Kelly was proud of the preparation she'd put into the evening's meal. She spent the day cleaning up the apartment and had gone out food shopping. She even did a practise run of the night's dishes before cooking them – she wasn't the best chef but wanted to try her hardest to make it a wonderful evening for everyone.

"Something smells good." Justin emerged from the bathroom, his hair damp and a towel around his waist. "Clearly you've been busy today."

"I have. For starters, I'll be serving a warm crab, cucumber and chicory salad followed by lemon and ginger infused lamb with roasted vegetables, all finished off with a Philly mango cheesecake." The blonde recited, secretly proud of how hard she'd worked. "Now, I made the cheesecake this morning so I don't have to worry about that and the salad's finished too. My main priority is making sure the lamb and vegetables don't overcook."

"Wow. I thought Tiffany was the domestic one. I didn't know you could do much more than heat up a tin of mac and cheese."

"Ha ha, very funny. What are you still doing in your towel? Cody and his girlfriend are going to be here in a minute and you're not dressed! I've laid your pink shirt out on the bed–"

"You know I only let you buy me that pink shirt as a joke?" Justin smirked,

"I don't care, just go put something on and run a comb through your hair." She leaned over to give her boyfriend a sniff. "At least you don't smell of chlorine anymore."

"It's shocking, isn't it? I work at a swimming pool and I sometimes come home smelling that way? Crazy!"

"Now's not the time for you to be a comedian, just try and look presentable for when they show up. Oh my God, I don't even know what this girl's name is. What am I supposed to call her? Cody's girlfriend? Miss? Oh my God..."

"I didn't realise William and Kate were coming to dinner."

She didn't give him the pleasure of responding, instead she pushed Justin into their bedroom and glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. Her own short black dress was smart but finished off with a simple cardigan and opaque tights, it was made more casual. "We never hang out with couples." She mused, pulling her hair out of the bun it had been in, deciding it looked too stuffy.

"We hang out with Tiff and Drew all the time. And the other week we went out for drinks with Heath and that girl he was seeing."

"Whose name neither of us can remember."

"That's her own fault, she had the personality of a teaspoon. Not that Heath cared; that wasn't exactly why he was with her." He winked at his girlfriend, a smirk finding his lips as he thought about his best friend's behaviour.

Kelly didn't have a chance to scold her boyfriend as the buzzer rang for their apartment, signalling the arrival of their guests. She ran to the front door to buzz them up and stood by the front door waiting for them.

"Cody!" She greeted her old friend with a warm hug. He looked...like himself, there was no other way to describe it. It wouldn't have mattered if she told him to dress up because he still wouldn't have, as he sauntered inside wearing a black leather jacket with a blue t-shirt underneath and some jeans.

He was closely followed by who Kelly assumed to be his girlfriend. She was a petite brunette, shorter than the blonde and slightly curvier but with an attractive face. She too wore jeans but the blue and gold top she had on top smartened up the look. Her mid-brown hair was wavy and shoulder-length and she had a friendly smile on her face. "We haven't met, I'm Mickie, Cody's girlfriend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Kelly turned back to the bedroom and yelled "Justin, Cody and Mickie are here, get your ass out here." Her boyfriend came out of the bedroom, a wide smile on his face as introductions were made between the group. The foursome sat themselves down in the living area and began chatting before Kelly had to disappear into the kitchen to get the starter ready.

"So Mickie," Justin took a sip of his wine. "Kelly's told me all about Cody but what about you? What's your story?"

"I'm actually a nurse at Bellevue Hospital. Overworked, underpaid, you know the story." She paused, drinking from her glass. "Don't get me wrong, I love it and wouldn't change it for the world. It's just... I never knew how difficult it would be. Not that anyone ever said it would be easy."

"My mother was a nurse. A midwife, to be specific."

As Justin and Mickie continued to chat, Cody got up and stuck his head around the kitchen door, asking Kelly where the bathroom was. ("First door in the hallway – not hard to miss considering there are only four rooms in the whole apartment!") He thanked her and used the bathroom before coming out again and finding himself glancing at the open door opposite; Kelly and Justin's bedroom. He knew he shouldn't snoop but before he could even consider his actions, he was in the room with the lights on.

It was what he imagined it would be like; simple, like the rest of the apartment, but completely Kelly. The room wasn't large, mostly taken up by a large dark wood bed and matching closet and set of drawers. The bed itself had clothes scattering it, all Kelly's – Cody hoped – and one of the walls was lined with her shoes. He could tell which side of the room was hers, because it was scatty and unorganised, whereas the other side was spotless.

His attention was caught by the set of drawers and the selection of the photos that covered it. Obviously there were some people he didn't know but he recognised Tiffany, Justin, Kelly and her family. There was even a photo of him and Kelly from the Knicks game they went to in junior year of college. He couldn't believe she still had that or that it was out on show in her room.

"Having a look around?" Cody turned around and saw Kelly stood in the doorway, her arms folded but a smile on her face.

"Uh, I needed to grab my cell phone from my jacket pocket." He quickly muttered, remembering that he and Mickie had put their jackets in the couple's bedroom earlier on that night. _Quick thinking Cody¸_ he thought to himself. "I thought I heard it ringing when I was in the bathroom." He went over to the photo and picked it up, showing it to Kelly.

"I found it the other day and thought it was cute." She looked at it fondly. "That was a great night."

"Remember you had a mini heart attack when you asked that fan to take a photo of us and he almost dropped your camera?"

She rolled her eyes. "I wanted to slap him. And there was that hot dog guy that was _definitely_ giving you the eye."

"He wasn't!"

"Oh, so we kept getting free hot dogs for nothing? It certainly wasn't me he was checking out. I think I had a little too much up here–" She signalled at her chest. "–and not enough down there."

Cody laughed. Even back then, he enjoyed the attention; even if it was from the same sex. "Well, it was because of my irresistible good looks that we didn't pay a dime for wieners that night. You weren't complaining and neither was I."

"It's not my fault you seem to have a crazy gay following. Don't you remember that 3 Doors Down concert we went to with Mike and that girl he was seeing, because her cousin was the drummer or something, and on the way back, there was that couple Dylan and Ollie? They practically begged you to come back to the G Lounge with them!"

"You're just jealous because you don't have the same harem."

"As jealous as I am, I came in here to tell you that the starter's ready." She linked her arm through Cody's and they went back into the main area, where Justin and Mickie were already sat up at the dining table.

"Take your time, guys." Justin commented as his girlfriend went into the kitchen and came back out carrying the plates of warm crab, cucumber and chicory salad.

"Sorry, we started reminiscing." Kelly sat down next to her boyfriend and opposite Cody, smiling across the table at her old friend. They began eating in companionable silence but after a couple of minutes, she broke that, saying "So Mickie, when you're out with Cody, do you ever find he's approached by gay men a lot?"

Justin looked at his girlfriend as if she'd smoked something strange, Cody's cheeks were dotted with pink but Mickie sat forward on her elbows, saying "It's funny you say that. Just last week, we were down in Soho and approached by these two guys..."

* * *

Please** review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Eve makes a big decision and Jay and Trish continue their wedding plans. _


	11. One Call Away

Kind of a filler but it's the last day of my study leave and I wanted something to do :)  
Thanks for all the reviews so far and here's chapter 11...

* * *

**ONE CALL AWAY**

A rainstorm settled over the city around lunchtime, just as Jay and Trish were meeting for lunch at a deli just around the corner from the local gym where her morning yoga classes were being held. It was Jay that arrived first, however, grabbing them a table near the back and ordering himself a San Francisco club sandwich and a large coffee, needing the energy to get him through an afternoon of classes.

His fiancée came through the door a good five minutes after he did. Wearing her yoga attire, a pair of grey sweatpants, a light pink tank top with a black sweater over the top, she made her way over to the table and gave Jay a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down opposite him.

"Sorry, my class overran. I'll have the smoked salmon and rocket wrap with a Diet Coke." She reeled off to the waitress that came over without even glancing at a menu before turning to Jay and explaining "The gym food's not that good so anytime I'm working there, I come over here."

"Busy day?" Jay asked.

"Two straight classes this morning then this afternoon I've got a private client then I'm out this evening – Amy and I are doing a girls night over at her house."

"Girls night? What does that include, pillow fights and hair braiding?"

"Ha, I think we have more important things to think about, like planning _our_ wedding." She reminded him. "Adam's going out with Chris to a hockey game so Amy and I are going to sit at her kitchen table, drink red wine and decide how the hell we're going to sort out this wedding. Have you sorted out who your wedding party's going to consist of?"

"My wedding party?"

"Yeah, my maid of honour is going to be Amy and my two sisters are going to be bridesmaids. Have you sorted out your groomsmen?"

Jay had assumed that Trish would be sorting that out for him; when it came to planning their wedding, she was meticulous and wanted everything done her way. "Well, Adam's going to be my best man. How many more men do I need?"

"Let's keep it symmetrical. I have Amy, Christie and Melissa so you need Adam and two more guys."

"Umm, I guess I'd have Chris and Terry."

"Good choices." Trish pulled 'the wedding binder' out from her handbag – the folder she kept all her wedding plans in –and scribbled something down onto a piece of paper. "Amy and I are going to start looking at the bridesmaids' dresses tonight so we need to decide on a colour scheme. If we go ahead with Valentine's Day, maybe we should do something that compliments that? I was thinking that red or pink might be a bit obvious...maybe maroon?"

Were all men as oblivious as he was when it came to planning weddings? He didn't know about colour schemes or flower arrangements or how many groomsmen he needed. This was all Trish's realm, not his. Even though he'd zoned out, she continued to talk away about the types of flowers that might contribute to the 'new theme'. He couldn't help but feel relieved when his phone rang and he excused himself from the table.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, it's Tiffany." _

Hearing the blonde's voice, he smiled gratefully, stood in the small sheltered entrance of the deli. "Hey, how's it going?"

"_Well, I was meant to be organising a game of little league baseball for the kids but the rain kind of got in the way of that so instead we did a music lesson, which quite honestly has torn my head to pieces. It was a mistake giving Tommy Diadonto that drum kit because my eardrums are in pieces." _She laughed. _"What about you?"_

"Well, I spent the morning with my junior class looking at recurring themes in Shakespeare's writing."

"_That sounds like bliss." _

"You'd think that but not all of them are as switched on as you were." He commented. "Anyway, what's up?"

"_I was just calling because I never properly thanked you for inviting me to that reading the other week – a little pretentious, perhaps, but I really enjoyed myself. I should repay you sometime. What are you doing...Thursday night? Maybe we could go see a movie? There's a new French film playing in the village that I'd love to go see. And we could grab something to eat afterwards. What do you say?"_

Jay glanced back through the window of the deli, where Trish was now on her cell phone, still writing in the binder. He saw his fiancée laugh, a wide smile on her face. "That sounds great."

"_My lunch break's nearly over and I've got to get ready for this afternoon – I'll call you back later?" _

After she hung up, Jay went back inside. Their food had been served up and Trish was simultaneously eating her salad and scribbling in the binder. "You got a call too?" He smirked, tucking into his sandwich.

"Yeah, I've got my first dress fitting next week and I'm going to see if I can get the girls measured up as well. If I could get Christie and Mel to fly in from Toronto that would be great but it's short notice...I think I'm going to need to work out a mood board or something because I've got so many ideas that I need to get some cohesion going..."

Deciding to focus on his food and not what his fiancée was saying, Jay knew this was going to be a long lunch.

* * *

"We haven't been to see a game live in about a year," said Cody as he and Ted watched the game in DiBiase's living room. Once again, Maryse was working late and being a good friend, Cody had come over to take Ted's mind off things, with the offer of pizza and football. "Maybe we should get a season ticket for next season?"

"Last week you were talking about getting season tickets for the Knicks. I didn't realise you were made of money." Coming out of the kitchen with two more bottles of Budweiser, Ted handed one to his friend and sat back down on the couch.

"Hey, just keeping busy." He took a large bite of pizza and put his feet up on the coffee table – something he'd never do if his friend's wife was around. "So what's the missus doing tonight?"

"The British team from the magazine are coming over and they're all going out for a meal at Chess." Irritated as he remembered being stood up the previous week, he sighed. "I dunno what time she'll be back – whatever time it is, I bet you she'll go straight up to bed."

"Things still aren't good, huh?"

That was an understatement, Ted thought to himself. Since his parents last visit to the city, his wife had been even more closed off than usual, not to mention their phone call the other week hadn't helped the situation. Most days, she'd leave for work early and arrive home late and the nights she came home at a reasonable hour, they'd sit and watch television together without saying a word.

"You could say that." He replied quietly. "Anyway, didn't you and Mickie go for dinner with Kelly and Justin the other night? That must have been awkward."

"You'd think it would be but it was actually a lot of fun. Her being back in my life again just feels...right, like, why did we even lose touch in the first place? Kelly and Mickie seemed to get along, even Mickie and Justin seemed to hit it off. It was a great night."

As much as he wanted to ask how Cody felt about Kelly, Ted decided to bite his tongue. Trying to talk to his best friend about his feelings for the blonde was like talking to a brick wall. "What about you and Justin? There was always a little tension there."

"There's no tension between Justin and I."

Once again, Ted bit his tongue. Being the male best friend of someone's girlfriend is always a tricky task and he got the vibe that Cody resented Justin for being the one involved with Kelly and not him. But once again, Cody would never admit this. "So are there more double dates to come?"

"That might be pushing it. Although I'm seeing Kelly later this week; she's coming into my office so I can give her some information about upcoming work."

"Ah, the struggling actress meets the handsome knight in shining armour slash casting director. Nice way to get in there."

"I'm going to hit you in a minute."

"Before you do that, there was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about. It's Maryse's–" At the sound of the key turning in the lock, Ted stopped talking and looked over at the door, watching as his wife came inside. She didn't say a word, simply slipped off her heels and Burberry trench coat as she came in from the rain and headed straight upstairs to their bedroom.

"'_Hi Cody, nice to see you, how's your girlfriend doing?' _I knew things were bad between you but not _that_ frosty." The darker haired male raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"Never mind, she has ears like a bat – I'll tell you another time."

* * *

Sat in her apartment with Mad Men on the TiVo, a bottle of white wine and a packet of toffee popcorn, Eve stopped paying attention to the Joy seducing Don on screen and started to wonder when she'd become to independent and unwilling to let any man in.

It wasn't that she intentionally turned men away, it just seemed that she never went looking for them in the first place. There was Nattie, in a serious relationship with Tyson, but Gail was always looking out for new guys when the girls went out for the night. For Eve, hooking up with some random guy she knew nothing about didn't seem all that appealing – did that just make her a prude?

Her independence began in high school. Her first boyfriend was Chris Masters, the typical jock. Handsome, charismatic, athletic; everyone loved Chris. They were friends until a party in sophomore year where he admitted to her that he'd had a crush on her since freshman year but never acted on it because he thought she'd shoot him down. When she told him she liked him too, they became the golden couple of their high school back in Denver.

The next two years were smooth sailing for the couple until high school graduation. One of their friends was holding an after party at their house and to cut a long story short, the night ending with Eve running home in tears after finding Chris in bed with the head cheerleader, a cliché but hurtful nonetheless.

Having the first man she ever loved be unfaithful to her changed her perception of men. She was sceptical entering college and for her, it seemed simpler to stay alone to stop herself getting hurt by any guy. Men would take an interest in her but she'd close herself off from them. During college, she didn't have a serious boyfriend. There was the occasional date or hook-up but she never let it go any further.

After graduation (and Mike), she gave love a chance. Through friends, she allowed herself to be set up with Ron Killings; he was a bit of a joker, liked a party and honestly, completely not her type, however she told herself that was a good thing. They had a lot of fun but time passed and it seemed Ron wasn't all he seemed to be.

No, he didn't cheat on her like her last boyfriend but his crazy possessiveness and constant talk about conspiracy theories and how everyone at his work didn't want him to achieve anything was enough of a reason for Eve to get him out of her life as quickly as possible. Plus, his constant reference to every child as 'Little Jimmy' was slightly worrying. Chris and Ron; two appalling boyfriends that were enough to turn her off men for life. After them, why would she want to bother with anyone else?

Gail seemed to think Alex was worth bothering about. From what her friend had said, he sounded like a good guy. Perhaps after so long out of the game, it was time to get back on the horse. Before she could change her mind, she'd paused Mad Men and was fumbling in her handbag to find Alex's number. When she eventually found it, she dialled and got straight through after a couple of rings.

"Hey, is that Alex Riley?"

"_It is." _

"This is Eve Torres. I'm–"

"_Gail's friend, yeah I've heard all about you." _First impressions? He sounded friendly and approachable. "_I was going to call you at some point this week – how are you? What's up?" _

"Well, I'm at home, watching Mad Men on the TiVo, eating popcorn and drinking wine. It's pretty wild at my house." She admitted with a smile, settling down on the couch and putting a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "What about you?"

"_Would you believe me if I told you I was watching Mad Men as well? My roommate's working tonight so I'm chilling on the couch for the night. He has the series one box set and I've never watched it before so I decided to give it a shot. Beer in hand, Chinese arriving in ten minutes; it's going pretty well so far." _

"That sounds like my kind of evening. If you're getting Chinese though, I hope you bought sweet and sour pork balls?"

"_First thing I ordered; it's not a Chinese takeout without sweet and sour pork."_

"Couldn't agree more." She tucked her legs underneath her comfortably with a smile.

"_Listen, what're you up to this weekend? There's a Chinese restaurant downtown, right? I've never been there but apparently it's really good." _

"The Dragon House. Yeah, I've been there a couple of times; great pork, actually."

He chuckled. "_Well, what do you say we take a trip there this Saturday night?" _

"It gets pretty busy; you'd have to book a table–"

"_I'll do it now and call you back once I've done it." _

"Great." She hung up the phone with a huge smile on her face. So far, no signs of adultery and no mention of conspiracy theories? As she turned Mad Men back on and finished off her glass of wine, she thought this guy definitely had potential.

* * *

Please **review** :) x

**NEXT TIME – **_Mike is asked out on a date whilst Jay and Tiffany meet again. _


	12. Realisation

Did someone call for chapter 12?

* * *

**REALISATION**

"This is the big casting place Cody works at?" Justin raised an eyebrow as he and Kelly walked down the street to the address that Cody had given them.

"He never said it was a palace. And besides, it's a successful business; they cast for commercials, TV shows, pilots, even movies. If my agent's not going to do her job right, I'm going to have to go find the work myself." Kelly replied, checking her reflection in a nearby car window. "Anyway, what're you doing for the rest of the day?"

"I've got a casting of my own uptown actually – a Gillette commercial."

"That means you'll have to shave off all the stubble you're working right now." She ran a hand across his bristly chin and smiled. "Meet you back at the apartment for lunch? Or we could go out somewhere to eat? I'm mainly saying that because there's no food in the house–"

"–which means we need to go grocery shopping." He gave his girlfriend a kiss on the lips before hailing down a cab. Before he got in, he told her "I'll call you when my casting's finished."

Kelly took a deep breath and headed up the steps that led into the building. Once inside the warm waiting room, she approached the receptionist with a beaming smile. "Hi, I'm here to see Cody Rhodes."

"What's your name?"

"Kelly Blank."

The receptionist picked up the phone. "Mr Rhodes, there's a 'Kelly Blank' here to see you." After a short pause, she hung up and looked up at the blonde. "First door in on the left."

Quickly expressing her thanks, she followed the given instructions until she came to a door with her friend's name on it. She knocked and when she heard a response, she went inside and found Cody at his desk on the computer. "It may look a little shabby on the outside but it's not a bad establishment you've got here." Kelly joked as she sat down on one of the chairs opposite his desk.

"I think there was a compliment in there somewhere." He smirked but didn't take his eyes away from the screen. "I was actually just looking at what upcoming roles I could put you in for. What're you interested in, TV, theatre...?"

"Literally anything you've got going, as long as it pays and is local...actually, if it meant a short trip to Los Angeles, I wouldn't mind too much..."

"Alright, there's a lot going on right now. There's a production of 'Of Mice and Men' in progress at The Playhouse and the woman they had playing Curley's wife got pneumonia–"

"Oh my God, that's awful."

"She'll be okay but they need someone to step in." He briefly glanced over at her before turning back to the screen. "You know the story, don't you?"

"Yeah, we studied it in high school. Two guys travelling around after the depression and find work on a work–"

"Great. I'll put you in for an audition."

She found it bizarre to watch her old friend so business-orientated and focused. His face was concentrated as he scrolled down the computer screen in search of more appropriate castings; he was her old party boy friend, yet since she'd been reunited with him, there was a serious quality to him that she didn't quite recognise. Since she'd come in the room, he'd looked at her a total of three times.

"If that doesn't work out, there's some TV stuff going. Chuck Bass needs a lineless fuck on Gossip Girl and CSI: New York need four lines of stripper. Both small parts but both offer global exposure."

"This is brilliant." Kelly told him. If there was so much great work around, why wasn't Vickie securing her any of these jobs? Cody was amazing.

"Well, I'll put you forward for the play but if that doesn't work, Gossip Girl and CSI: New York don't have castings for another few weeks."

"Seriously, thank you so much for doing all of this for me. Clearly you're ten times better than my agent and for that, I'm eternally grateful I bumped into you at the reunion."

"It helps to have a friend in the industry." He agreed, finally looking up away from the computer and returning the smile Kelly was giving him. "You wanna grab some lunch? That is, if you don't have any plans for the rest of the day."

"Actually Justin and I are going grocery shopping."

"Wild stuff."

"You laugh but it won't be long before you and Mickie sharing laundry and arguing over whose turn it is to take out the trash. Then before you know it, you'll be picking out china patterns."

"Believe me, it's way too soon for that." He rolled his eyes at Kelly's comments. "And I think you and Justin will be looking at china patterns way before Mickie and I, the two of you have been together since there were dinosaurs walking the earth."

Kelly blushed; that was what everyone said. Yes, they'd been together a long time and the logical next step probably was marriage but she didn't feel ready for that; maybe the pair of them had been a couple for so long that they'd just become accustomed to the roles they'd taken on. Not to mention, being called Kelly Gabriel? It didn't sit well on her ears. She didn't know what the future held but at that moment, marrying Justin wasn't on her mind.

* * *

Mike had never been involved with a co-worker before; it wasn't that he saw any problem with those types of relationships; it was more that he'd never worked with anyone that he'd really taken a strong liking to. He wondered whether this was about to change as across the staff meeting he was leading, he was well aware that one of the new receptionist's was clearly flirting with him.

He'd hired Kaitlyn to work on the front desk around two weeks prior, based on previous hotel experience and her bubbly personality, as well as her being sexy as hell. Blonde hair with brown lowlights, a pouty pink mouth and a knockout body may have been the first thing Mike noticed about her but it was truthfully her résumé that got her the job.

On the other side of the conference room, the new receptionist sat, rolling her pen between her glossy lips and crossing and uncrossing her legs, even occasionally leaning forward to give her boss a clear view down her shirt, intentionally or unintentionally, Mike wasn't entirely sure, nor did he mind. Whenever he looked over at her, he noticed her look at him from under her eyelashes, the corners of her mouth tweaking upwards.

"I think that's all for today." Mike concluded the meeting, trying to cover up his smile. "Thanks for being so co-operative and if you've got any more questions, I'll be in my office for the rest of the day so you can find me there."

"Actually, I have another question." When he turned around, he was unsurprised to see Kaitlyn there.

"Work-related?"

"Of course." The beauty waited until the other employees were out of conference room before sitting down on the edge of the desk and watching as Mike gathered up his notes. "The Collins' wedding is still this weekend right? The groom called this morning – one of his distant...whatevers, can't make it so they're changing the name and giving it to another distant...whatever."

"Such professional talk." He commented with a smile.

"I just wanted to run it past you." She got to her feet and walked over to Mike, standing in front of him and completely catching him off-guard by taking his tie in her hand running her other hand over the blue paisley print. "Nice tie, by the way." She complimented.

A more uptight boss would definitely have scolded her for her unprofessional conduct but Mike didn't mind attention from a female as lovely as Kaitlyn. One of his eyebrows arched as she continued to play with the silky fabric of his tie. "Thanks."

"Although I think it would look better off." She stepped away from him, a mischievous grin still on her lips. "After work, a couple of my girlfriends and I are going out for drinks at 666. Maybe you'd like to join us?"

"I'm actually working late tonight."

"Well, perhaps you and I could go out tomorrow night. Just the two of us."

In the past, Mike hadn't been the kind of girl to turn down a date with a pretty girl but the past couple of weeks had been different. He received a lot of attention from good looking women but recently he'd been turning down a lot of people and for that, he was blaming Eve Torres.

That sarcastic bitch had come back into his life and since she had, he'd been unable to get her out of his head. How was he supposed to even think about other women when Eve was there? He hadn't spoken to her since he returned her cell phone but he still kept coming up with situations of how they could run into each other. He couldn't say he had feelings for her because he could find multiple faults in her, but somehow she managed to stick to him.

Meaning going out with Kaitlyn just wasn't what he wanted.

"I'm flattered," he began, "but I don't get involved with co-workers. You're great but it's not something I'm interested in." The truth was, he didn't know why he was saying no to Kaitlyn so it was easier to lie.

Surprisingly, she didn't seem too offended by his rejection. Instead, she did up the top button on her shirt and didn't let her smile falter. "It was worth a shot. Besides, there's plenty more fish in the sea. The lifeguard at my local pool is gorgeous and I'm ninety eight percent sure that he's straight. Anyway, it's my lunch break now and I was heading out to Starbucks – did you want anything?"

"Thanks, but I'm okay."

She winked at him before leaving him alone in the conference room. He decided that if he'd said no to Kaitlyn – someone he was clearly attracted to – in favour of a non-existent relationship with Eve, something was seriously wrong with him.

* * *

Was there ever a right time to lie to your partner? There was the occasional white lie that was expected – _no, I didn't finish up that really expensive bottle of wine_ or _yes, I sent your mother's birthday card off on time, there must've been a problem with the post office_ – but how deep could those lies go? So deep that you lied about your whereabouts, hiding the fact you were going out for dinner with the college professor you were once deeply in love with?

Leaving the house in a pair of brand new heels teamed with an understated LBD and a navy blue cardigan, Tiffany breezed past Drew to grab her handbag from the kitchen. When he asked her where she was going, her response rolled off her tongue without a second thought "Drinks with Courtney." It was a complete lie that unintentionally came out.

Courtney was a fellow teacher and a friend of Tiffany's that she occasionally met up with outside of work but Drew had personally never met her. Maybe it was because of that, that the blonde decided to substitute Jay with her friend.

The quick decision was enough to send the teacher's heart pounding as she handed her menu over to the waiter and looked back across the table at Jay. Maybe the pumping heart was her school girl crush returning – whatever it was, she knew it wasn't right for an engaged woman to be feeling that way.

"Is everything alright?" Jay asked as the waiter went away. "You seem a little stressed tonight."

"Me? Stressed?" Her voice came out higher than she expected. "No, I'm fine. I'm great. Anyway, how are you? How's your fiancée?"

"She's okay." He chuckled at her gabbling. "Her mind's kind of in two places right now; work and wedding planning and very little in-between. It's all colour schemes and flower arrangements and bridesmaids dresses and waistcoats and a bunch of other stuff that's alien to me. Then again, I guess one of us has to know what we're talking otherwise the wedding meal would end up taking place at Burger King. Have you started yet?"

"Planning my wedding? No, not yet. Drew and I are busy with work, it's not really a priority for either of us right now. And I know wedding planning is definitely not Drew's thing."

"Really? No traditional Scottish affair? No kilts? No bagpipes?"

Tiffany laughed. "I don't know who'd hate that more; me or him. I think if Drew had his way, we'd go down to City Hall and get it done there and then. Or we'd pack a bag and get on the next flight out to Vegas so we could elope. Me, on the other hand, I want a wedding. Not some full blown spectacle but something beautiful. A chapel, some close family and friends, lilies as the main flower, me in a white dress; simple."

After days of looking at fancy hotel after fancy hotel, that description sounded like bliss to Jay. "Trish wants a huge event. She wants us to fly our families in from Canada and for one day...it seems like a lot of effort."

"What's Trish like?" She enquired. "I have some inkling but I think I'm wrong."

"What do you think she's like?"

"All you've told me is that she's beautiful and Canadian so I've been left to make my own judgements. Originally I imagined she'd be some tortured writer from the city that drinks a lot of coffee and smokes a lot of cigarettes but I doubt that's true."

"Quite the opposite, actually. When we first met she was a blonde personal trainer but now she's a brunette yoga instructor. She's a perfectionist, whatever aspect of her life, that's probably why she's so keen for this wedding to be amazing. She definitely knows what she wants out of life and is very career driven." He smiled at the waiter that brought over their drinks before turning back to Tiffany. "What about Drew?"

"He's a good guy. Sounds a lot like Trish, actually. He's a workaholic and is definitely a perfectionist but that's not always a bad thing. And he loves me, which I guess is most important of all."

"Is he the jealous type?"

Tiffany raised a questioning eyebrow as she sipped her glass of wine. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're having dinner with me. Most guys wouldn't like their girlfriend/wives/fiancées doing that. If Trish was having dinner with some guy, I'd be a little bit suspicious."

Was she supposed to tell Jay that her fiancée had no idea they were out together? Or would that seem suspicious? As if she were hiding something that didn't need to be hidden. "But you're not 'some guy'. You used to be my professor. There's no need to worry Drew over something that he doesn't need to be concerned about." She chose her words carefully. "Does Trish know you're here with me?"

"Like you said, there's no need for her to get worried about something she shouldn't."

Both knew that all wasn't as innocent as they were making it out to be, which was why the mood at the table suddenly dipped as they both drank in silence. Was it naive of them to convince themselves that their relationship was completely platonic? They had previously thought of each other fondly, not that the other knew that, so was coming back into each other's lives a sensible decision?

"I found my old copy of Hamlet the other day – all my notes scrawled inside, it was so strange to find it." Tiffany tried to break the ice but it seemed the mood was almost as tragic as the Shakespeare play that would have to be their topic of conversation.

* * *

Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Ted begins planning for Maryse's birthday and Alex and Eve's date ends on an odd note._


	13. It's a Date

Updates have definitely been slow on my stories :/  
Apologies - school's been crazy and my grandma's been staying with us for a week  
BUUUUT It's only 2 weeks until the summer holiday so then I'm sure I'll be getting more writing done.

Anyway, here's chapter 13 :)

* * *

**IT'S A DATE**

Evan Bourne hadn't been a lifeguard for long but if there was one lesson he'd learnt, it was that the profession involved much attention from the opposite sex. He'd barely been there a month and every day, he found himself being stared at by women of all ages, from attention-seeking teenage girls to sexually-active old women. Despite being a free man at college, he was surprisingly reserved when it came to women.

"I don't know how you do it." He told one of his fellow lifeguards as the pair arrived back from their lunch break and sat on the tall chairs, looking out over the pool. "I feel like I'm being harvested by their eyes."

Justin simply rolled his eyes at his new co-worker. Being a model, he was used to being flirted with and his job was just an extension of that, but with a whistle involved. "You get used to it. Just because they're into you, doesn't mean you have to be into them. I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but–"

"Take these two for example," he signalled over at two teenage girls sat on the pool's edge, not getting in the water but simply staring and giggling at the lifeguards, "I bet you one or both of them will come over and talk to us. It's just a matter of time."

He was right, as just a couple of seconds later, one of the girls got to their feet and approached the two men. She was pretty, with long chestnut brown hair and a navy blue bikini, but there was one big problem; she was about fifteen or sixteen. "Hey–"

"I'm going to stop you. We both have girlfriends and you're underage. Don't get your hopes up." Justin told her both assertively and kindly.

"Suit yourself." She huffed and went back towards her friend.

Raising an eyebrow at Justin, Evan reminded him "but I don't have a girlfriend."

"Let's see how long that lasts." He nodded in the direction of the attractive female walking towards them, all soft curves, low-lighted hair and a perfect smile. "Good morning, Miss Kaitlyn."

One of his girlfriend's best friends, Justin was well acquainted with Kaitlyn. A fellow aspiring actress, like Kelly, the pair once worked at _Marcella's _restaurant together but Kaitlyn had left a month prior after finding a receptionist job at the Monty Garrett Hotel that offered more money. She was the sexy, bubbly party girl; Kaitlyn was a lot of fun but definitely not the kind of girl you introduced to your mother.

That's why when she told Justin that she had her sights set on Evan, the newest lifeguard, he was of split mind; he feared for his friend's life but was also desperate to see her eat him alive. "Kaitlyn, this is Evan, he's one of the new lifeguards."

"I've seen you around," she told him, "it's a pleasure."

"You know, there's not much going on here. Maybe you guys could go get a drink from the cafe?"

"But I just came off my lunch break–" Evan didn't get to finish his sentence as he was already being dragged away by Kaitlyn.

The poor boy never stood a chance, Justin thought with a smile as he scanned his eyes across the pool. He was just about to scold a couple of boys for running when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a familiar brunette leaving the women's locker room. Leaving his post to go speak to her, he called her name and she turned around, squinting for a moment before recognising him.

"Hey Justin." Mickie smiled. Her hair was tied into a loose ponytail and she was wearing a pair of black sweats and a grey t-shirt. "Sorry it took me a while, I don't have my contact lenses in."

"I could swear I haven't seen you here before?"

"No, I normally use the pool at the gym uptown, by the hospital, but it's close for redecoration so I decided to come here. I forgot that you worked here! Anyway, how are you? I haven't seen you since Cody and I came over for dinner."

"I'm great." Justin smiled. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm good. It's my day off so I hit the gym this morning, then going for lunch with a couple of my girlfriends before seeing Cody later on. So what're you and Kelly up to at the moment?"

"Kelly's working down at _Marcella's _but I think Cody's managed to secure her a couple of auditions which is great. Same with me really, just working here and trying to get some modelling stuff on the side."

"Oh yeah? Anything interesting coming up?" She asked.

"Actually I went along to an audition for a Gillette commercial the other week and although I haven't heard anything back, they really seemed to like me. One of the women a little too much."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah, definitely, and one commercial for Gillette can lead to so much more – billboard campaigns, worldwide promotion, all that kind of stuff."

There was a small detail he was keeping to himself; yes, the Gillette ad was promising but if it did have a future to it, he would have to relocate to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks, potentially months. He knew they'd been apart before but he still worried about how Kelly would react if he had to leave. Mickie didn't need to know all this though, he decided.

"Well, I'm happy for you." She told him. "Listen, I'd better get going, I have to go meet some friends. The four of us should hang out again."

* * *

"I don't know why you invited me to help you choose a birthday present for your wife." Trailing through Bloomingdales like a reluctant little boy, Cody had forgotten how boring women's shopping could be. In a sea of Marc Jacobs and DVF, he was definitely out of his comfort zone and felt relieved that when Mickie wanted to go shopping, she went with her girlfriends.

"You're not choosing anything and neither am I. Since the scarf I bought Maryse two years ago was classed as 'an insult to fashion', every year since, she's given me a list of gifts to choose from." Ted walked up to the sales girl and said "Hi, I'm looking for a birthday present for my wife. Apparently it's the new Marc Jacobs–"

"Say no more." She skipped away and came back clutching an electric blue handbag with some silver bits on it. That's all the men saw it s, whilst the salesgirl described 'Swarovski detailing', 'updated style' and 'Italian leather'. "Isn't it fabulous?"

"How much?"

"It's $850. Plus tax." She added helpfully.

Ted gulped, clutching his wallet like a life raft. And that was the cheapest item on the list. His wife had always had expensive taste but hearing it from the salesgirl first hand was terrifying. He turned to Cody, who shared his look of surprised horror. "Fine." He took out his wallet and they followed the girl over to the counter so she could strip back his bank account. He silently thanked God that pay day was coming up.

With the bag now in his possession until Maryse's birthday, Ted and Cody left the department store and headed back down the street to their respective offices. "So you're planning on clearing the air between you two by getting her an overpriced handbag?" Cody joked.

"Oh no, the bag is just the tip of the iceberg. Her birthday's on a Saturday this year so I've been planning a weekend away in Connecticut for us."

"Is Connecticut going to be enough for Maryse? She clearly has expensive taste, case in point, the bag."

"Her cousin rents out this gorgeous house out there. Actually, back in college, it was the first place we ever took a trip, just the two of us." He explained. "My feeling is, if we want to get things back to normal, we need to spend some time together, just the two of us. No work or family talk, just Ted and Maryse."

"And lots of sex."

"That too."

* * *

"Have you opened your fortune cookie yet?"

In response to her date's question as they left The Dragon House, Eve fumbled in her jacket pocket and pulled out the fortune cookies they'd been given at the end of their meal. She handed one to Alex and cracked her cookie open. "_'A secret admirer will soon send you a sign of affection_.'" A smile spread on her face as she read the scrap of paper out loud.

"I don't think he's all that secret." Alex winked, hailing down a cab.

"What does yours say?"

"'_The world may be your oyster, but it doesn't mean you'll get its pearl_.'"

"Not exactly encouraging." She found herself laughing at his message as she slipped into the car before him and felt his hand fall onto the small of her lower back. She remembered the rush that came with first dates; the first meeting of eyes across a bar, the accidental brushes of skin, the lingering smiles; it all came back to her and it felt good.

Before arriving at the restaurant, her stomach buzzed with butterflies and apprehension, but coming face-to-face with Alex was the reassurance she needed to tell her she was doing the right thing. From his relaxed smile to his good sense of humour to his handsome all-American looks, she was attracted to him straight away and as the evening progressed, it was evident that when Gail said they had plenty in common, she was right.

Directing the driver to his house, Alex turned to Eve with a smile. "This isn't me being sleazy. When I invite you back for coffee, I'm genuinely inviting you back for coffee."

She smiled, feeling Alex's shirt-clad muscles rub against the arm of her jacket, giving her a wonderful shiver. "Well, I've never said no to a cup of coffee."

"A Starbucks regular?"

"Hey, it's a busy city, I need a kick from somewhere to keep up." She defended. "How are you finding it here? I remember how I felt when I first arrived from Denver – granted, I was eighteen but it was scary."

"I've visited a couple of times so I'm not a complete stranger but I like it. It's definitely different from where I was in Virginia but that's not a bad thing – there's something about this place that's just...so alive."

"Yeah, even after almost ten years here, you never lose that feel of awe."

Alex dropped a hand down onto hers, their fingers intertwining. "I'd really like to see you again, Eve."

"Me too." She agreed.

"Have you ever been to the Mahogany Kitchen?"

"Only once, but they do the best cocktails and amazing burgers." She mused, remembering one occasion when, on one of her rare meet-ups with Kelly and Tiffany they'd managed to get a table there, mainly through Kelly and her low-cut top. "It's one of those places that's always fully booked or has booths reserved for VIPs."

"What if I told you that my best friend's friend is the manager and could get us a table for Tuesday night?"

"I'd tell you that Tuesday night sounds amazing."

Their cab pulled up outside Alex's place a couple of minutes later. After he paid the driver (a true gentleman, Eve observed; she practically forced him to the split the bill for dinner despite Alex's insistence on paying), they headed up the steps to the front door.

"You mentioned you have a roommate?"

"Yeah, Mike. I'm only staying here whilst I get on my feet. Once I'm settled in my job, I'm gonna get somewhere of my own – I've already started looking at a couple of apartments. I have a viewing at one next week, actually." He chatted away as he unlocked the door. "Anyway, Mike works most evenings so I doubt he's around."

The pair went inside and Eve let Alex take her jacket off her. Considering it was the house of two guys, it looked relatively tidy, as she observed the hallway and peered into the living room where the TV was on. And there were a couple of takeout cartons on the coffee table, next to a half-empty bottle of beer.

"He must be home." Alex commented, not seeming too concerned. "Don't worry, if he sees we're here, he'll probably stay up in his bedroom."

She nodded, suddenly very aware that all wine she'd been drinking had gone straight through her. "Before I have anything else to drink, do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

"Sure, it's the room just at the top of the stairs. I'll start making some coffee."

Wanting to freshen up a little as well, Eve went up the stairs and over to the bathroom. Attempting to open the door, she found it was locked and realised Mike must have been in there. "Sorry!" She apologized through the door.

The toilet flushed, the sink tap ran and the door opened, leaving Eve stood in front of the last person she expected to see that night. Mike Mizanin didn't seem to share her shock for long; he simply looked amused.

"Mike?"

"Eve."

"You guys know each other?" Alex stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking more confused than the pair of them combined.

* * *

Kind of rushed but like I said, I've been busy!  
Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please leave a **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Maryse gets a tempting offer from work and Jay and Tiffany run into each other whilst with their partners. _


	14. Thinking Ahead

Thank you for all the reviews, you beautiful people :)  
I've been doing lots of planning for the future of this story and I'm really excited about the next few chapters, following this one.  
Expect big things!  
Anyway, first, on to chapter 14...

* * *

**THINKING AHEAD**

One of the conference rooms of _M _magazine was currently occupied by the assistant editor Camille, a man called Tim who had no affiliation to the magazine and as Maryse slipped into the room and took a seat opposite them, she felt more than a little uncomfortable. Who was this Tim guy? What was he doing here? And what did he want with Maryse?

"You're probably wondering why I've called you here." Camille began. She was a slim woman in her early thirties with a dark brown Anna Wintour style bob. She always gave off an air of European sophistication, despite the fact she was born and raised in Idaho. "After all, Dante is in Paris with Karl and he's usually the person that would speak to you about this kind of thing, but over the past few weeks, Dante and I have been in talks with Tim over here about a project we're very excited about."

"Project?"

"My name's Tim and I am one of the head publishers at The Salt House." That name sounded familiar to Maryse but she wasn't sure why. "As Camille said, we've been corresponding a lot about you and in short, we want you to write a book that we, at The Salt House, can publish."

Surprised was one word that covered how Maryse was feeling. They wanted her to write a book? She may have studied English at college but writing a book was a completely different story – no pun intended. And why her? She had a lot of questions.

"You're probably wanting more details, right?" That was for sure. "Well, I'll let Camille explain."

"Your column about essentials every woman should have in their wardrobe has been a massive success. Sales of black Louboutins, Hermes scarves and J Brand jeans have gone through the roof and apparently it's down to you. It's become a hit and you're the face of that column. What we want to do is expand on that. We want you to write a...style bible, of sorts. Something women can keep on their bookshelves and can refer to whenever they want.

"We want you to write about the things you like, what you think is fashionable. The main reason we want you to be the one to write this, Maryse, is because you're everything an _M_ girl should be. You're beautiful, intelligent, you have the gorgeous husband and the dream job. You're perfect and you have the life everyone else aspires to have and that's why you're the right person to write the book."

_You're perfect._ It was the one thing Maryse always wanted to be but never saw herself as. When she was a little girl, she wanted to be Barbie; the flawless blonde that could be whatever she wanted to be. Maybe on the surface, she was a bit of a Barbie doll. She may have seemed effortless but she wasn't going to let on about all the cracks that sat under the surface; the strict beauty regime, her struggling marriage, the extra hours she put in at the office. Contrary to popular belief, nothing was given to Maryse for free.

"Obviously writing a book is no walk in the park. It's time consuming and takes priority." Tim continued on from Camille. "We only want you to write this if you're one hundred percent sure it's what you want to do. If you need to go away and think it over, that's fine."

"Well, any initial thoughts?" Camille asked.

_Like you wouldn't believe. _"I'd love to write it."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I'm one hundred percent onboard." As Tim and Camille continued to talk about how exciting a project this would be, Maryse knew that when Ted found out she'd agreed to take on more work, he wouldn't be happy but this was her choice to make, not his.

* * *

As soon as Eve sauntered into her office looking much more cheerful than she usually did, Gail knew her matchmaking efforts had been a success. There wasn't even a coffee in her friend's hand – it was a miracle. She quickly ended the phone call she was occupied with, before hopping into Eve's office and closing the door behind her. "Look at you, you're positively glowing."

Eve didn't say anything, instead she turning on her computer and began rifling through a pile of manuscripts.

"You don't have any appointments until midday – I pushed back your meeting with James from HHC until twelve."

"Really? Why?"

"Because I want to hear all about your date with Alex." She sat down on the couch in Eve's office, making herself comfortable. "Don't even try to get out of telling me."

"You know I don't talk about my love life." Her voice was serious but the pink tint to her cheeks and the corners of her mouth tweaking upwards told Gail otherwise.

"That's because before I set you up with Alex, you're love life was non-existent. Now spill. Don't skip a single detail, however small or dirty."

"It was…really, really nice. And as much as I hate to give you the satisfaction, Alex is fantastic. There's nothing I can fault about him."

"I know, my work is impressive. So tell me about the date."

"We met at The Dragon House. I told him I'd be wearing a green dress and black jacket so he came and found me over by the bar. We sat down at a table, ate and talked about, well, ourselves, getting to know each other. It was great."

"Okay, okay, so all the PG stuff happened…then what?"

"We got a cab back to his place and we had coffee, talked some more."

Gail raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Nothing else?"

"No, his roommate was home. A roommate who I happened to go to college."

That ridiculous twist of fate had definitely been a cog in the perfectly turning wheel that was Eve and Alex's evening. Seeing Mike was the last thing she expected – and the last thing she wanted – especially when she had to tell Alex that they knew each other. Obviously she didn't reveal the full extent of their past, just that they went to college together and it was to Eve's complete dismay that Mike decided to join them for coffee and conversation, the whole time that stupid, amused smirk sitting on his face.

"Well, that's not exactly ideal. But you're seeing him again?"

"We're going to the Mahogany Kitchen tomorrow night. And if we're going anywhere afterwards, it'll be my place, not his. At least living with Mike isn't a permanent thing – he's already looking at places to move into, somewhere of his own."

"I'm just glad my matchmaking was a success. I knew you guys would be perfect for each other and I'm so happy you're going out again. So happy, in fact, I say we get manicures after work. What were you planning on wearing tomorrow? You need perfectly co-ordinating nails for your second date with Alex."

"I do?"

"Yes, you do. I'll go book us an appointment now." Gail said excitably, humming the Wedding March as she skipped out of Eve's office.

Once her friend was gone, Eve allowed herself a smile. Chris, Mike and Ron were in the past now and she could look forward to whatever was going to happen with her and Alex. She wasn't going to devote herself to anything straight away, still wanting her independence, but when she saw an email from Alex in her inbox, she couldn't help but grin.

'_Had a great time the other night – hope Mike didn't spoil things too much and I'll see you tomorrow night. A x.'_

* * *

"Thank you for taking the night off." Tiffany held onto her fiancée's arm as they took the elevator up to 06, the restaurant where they'd be eating that night. "I know you're busy with work so it means a lot."

"You're my future wife, spending time with you is always a pleasure." Placing a kiss on the side of her head, Drew smiled down at the blonde. "You're going to love this place – we came here for a business lunch and the seafood is fantastic."

As they chatted away about their upcoming meal, it was relieving for Tiffany that she and Drew were getting things on track. After what she considered to be a small detour – her brief liaisons with Jay – she told herself those days were over and it was time to start focusing on the long-term; her fiancée and her career.

The last dinner she had with Jay had showed her that the feelings she was beginning to develop for him were bordering in harmful to her future marriage. In what seemed to be a mutual move, their phone calls and text messages stopped and she'd just…avoided him. It was easy enough. And maybe she still thought of him but that was because she'd so abruptly cut him out of her life. She told herself that was definitely the reason she still thought of him...

"Penny for 'em?" Drew observed the faraway look on her face as the waiter showed them over to their table.

"Just thinking about us." She replied, casting her eyes around the restaurant and over the menu. It was fancy and as flattered as she was that Drew was bringing her here, it just wasn't really her scene. She preferred cosier, friendlier places. _Stop being so negative,_ she thought, _he's doing something nice, be more appreciative_.

"Oh yeah?"

"And the wedding. I was looking at having it in the spring. If we do it over spring break, I won't have to take any time off of work and we can having the wedding at the beginning and then have a long honeymoon." Needless to say, she'd been distracting herself from Jay with bridal magazines. "Bali is lovely, and actually so is San–"

Her wedding talk came to a screeching halt when she looked over to the elevator entrance of 06 and saw the man she'd been trying to keep out of her mind. More horrifying was the woman that followed him; was that Trish? She certainly matched up to the descriptions Jay had given her; a stunning brunette in great shape. The simple black dress she wore hugged every curve and muscle on her body perfectly was enviable and her Hollywood smile would set a dentist's heart racing.

What happened next was like a movie moment. Across the restaurant, Jay's eyes met Tiffany's and they both knew that there was a reason they'd been avoiding each other. Her stomach fluttered and he felt his heart beat a little faster but both quickly looked away, trying not to acknowledge this, something that was easier said than done. The blonde looked up from under her eyelashes at the pair. The waiter pointed over in their direction and Jay and Trish were being led over to the available table, right behind Tiffany and Drew's.

"Tiff?" She was brought back to reality with a bump, as Drew waved a hand in front of her face. "You're in your own world tonight, aren't you?"

"Sorry, I'm just a little–"

"Hi Tiffany." And there was Jay and Trish, stood next to their table. "Sorry to interrupt but I thought I should come say hi."

"Actually I caught Jay looking over here and convinced him to come over and say hello. He's very shy, my fiancée." Trish piped up, holding out a hand for Tiffany to shake. "I'm Trish Stratus, soon-to-be Trish Reso. I'm Jay's fiancée."

"Tiffany Terrell. I used to be one of Jay's students." The blonde smiled back politely. "Um, Jay, Trish, this is my fiancée Drew. Drew, Jay was my English professor at college."

Once the awkward introductions were out of the way, the waiter approached the foursome and said "If you wish, we can push the tables together and you can be a party of four?" Both Jay and Tiffany opened their mouths to protest but Trish spoke up first, deciding "You know what, that sounds great."

As Tiffany found herself sat opposite Drew and next to Jay, she wished the floor would swallow her whole. Her throat had dried up and she sipped at the glass of water the waiter had brought over but luckily, she didn't have to speak as it was Drew that began conversation. "You know, Jay, you don't look much like any professor I've ever had."

"I guess you're talking about my age?" He eyed Drew up and down, secretly wondering what Tiffany saw in this guy. "Well, as soon as I finished my literature degree, I worked as an assistant in the department at my college and after a little extra training, I became a professor."

"Well, I've only heard good things about you. Our Tiffany always thought very highly of you."

"That's so cute." Trish cooed. The next time Tiffany saw Kelly, she was going to kill her for ever mentioning that Tiffany liked Jay. Then she was going to kill Drew for embarrassing her in front of Jay and Trish. Then she was going to kill herself. Oh, and somewhere in there, she'd kill Trish.

Jay turned his head to look at Tiffany and she felt the colour rise in her cheeks when his eyes met hers. "She was always one of my best students. I've never met anyone like Tiffany and I don't know if I will again."

Finally, the wine list arrived and Tiffany thanked God that she could start getting drunk. It was going to be a long night.

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Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **There's fights all around, between a pair of former friends and one of the couples.


	15. Bigger and Better Things

Chapter 15 anyone? Thanks for the reviews :)

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**BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS**

"You look nervous."

"That's because I am nervous." As Kelly got out of the cab and followed Cody to the door of the theatre where her Of Mice and Men audition was taking place, her hands were clamming up and starting to shake. She jammed them into her pockets and let out a deep breath.

That morning, she'd been a bit of a wreck. After throwing back a cup of coffee, she'd gotten dressed into her black shirt and dark skinny jeans and received some reassuring words and a kiss from Justin before he dashed off to work. Unfortunately, his words were of very little conciliation, as when Cody arrived, the blonde looked as if she might throw up.

Whenever she normally went along to an audition, she was fairly relaxed. She expected very little to come out of it and therefore never let herself get too excited about it. This time, however, she'd let herself want it. She wanted it so much, to prove to herself she could do it but also to thank Cody for all the hard work he'd put in to help her.

"You're allowed to have a few nerves – it's good for you – but you can't look so scared." He explained. "Besides, you're going to be great. I'm heard your monologue, you'll be fantastic. But remember, at the end of the day, it's just an audition. Best outcome? You get the part. Worst outcome? You don't get the part. It's not life or death so just...relax."

_In through the nose, out through the mouth_. Straight away, her breathing slowed down and her heartbeat became less erratic. Wow, Cody was good.

"Secondly, you'll be performing for Dustin and this woman called Sharon. You already know Dustin so that instantly works in your favour. Show your enthusiasm for the book, the play and just smile a lot. But hey, you do that anyway."

"Smile...I can do that." She said as Cody led her inside and checked her in with the receptionist. "Smile."

"Right, smile."

"Listen Cody, I wanted to thank you for everything. For getting my the audition in the first place, for coaching me, you've been a real friend and I can't tell you how much–"

"Kelly Blank," the receptionist piped up. "They're ready for you."

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, a softer more genuine smile crossing her lips. He squeezed her hand back before letting her go into the audition room.

"Hi there." She said brightly, entering the audition room, her smile wide for Dustin and Sharon. "I'm Kelly Blank and I'm here to audition for Curley's Wife."

With a knowing look in his eyes, Dustin pointed at her. "I know you, don't I?" When she nodded in response, he turned to Sharon. "Kelly went to college with my younger brother Cody. In fact, didn't you come over to my house one year for Thanksgiving?"

"I did, indeed. I brought the potatoes."

Dustin chuckled. "Of course. So Kelly, do you like Of Mice and Men?"

"I read it in sophomore year of high school and it's one of my favourite stories actually. I mean, it's got good contextual themes but the distinct characters are really the highlight of the story. I saw the film but there were certain parts I'd change."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Well for one, Curley's Wife would be blonde."

Both Dustin and Sharon laughed and Kelly could've sworn she heard Sharon mouth to Dustin 'I like her'. "Well, whenever you're ready, Kelly."

* * *

Whatever the occasion, Maryse liked to think she dressed appropriately. Her bursting wardrobe meant she was never short of options, however she always wanted to look better than the other 'fashion experts' she worked with, purely due to her attention to detail. She would never commit little crimes of fashion that her co-workers did; she was far too smart for that.

One thing she'd never had to dress for before was a meeting with a book publisher. What did writers wear? She wanted to look intelligent whilst still retaining the stylish edge that made her Maryse. As she travelled up to The Salt House, she scanned her reflection in the mirrored wall of the elevator. Her staple grey Marc Jacobs pencil skirt had been teamed with the newest edition to her wardrobe; a sleeveless, pale pink silk blouse, also Marc Jacobs, as well as a pair of ever-reliable Louboutins. She'd curled her hair the previous night and slept on the ringlets, giving her hair a subtle curl whilst she kept her make-up relatively natural.

Did she look like she could write a bestseller? Only time would tell.

As she stepped out onto the main floor of The Salt House, Maryse was greeted by the hustle and bustle of publishers approaching each other, comparing notes and laughing at jokes she probably wouldn't understand. Before she had a chance to feel insecure – an emotion that was relatively alien to her – she felt a hand rest on her arm and turned around to be greeted by a reassuring smile.

"You're Maryse, aren't you?" She was an attractive Korean woman that looked a little older than herself. "I'm Gail, I'm one of the assistants here. I get _M _every month and your column's introduced me to the wonders of Nanette Lepore. I mean, hello, what did I do before her?"

Maryse wasn't great with big talkers so she simply smiled politely.

"Anyway, I'll stop talking now. I think it's Eve that's going to be your main point of contact here so I'll take you through to meet her." Maryse froze. Was that why The Salt House had sounded so familiar? As Gail led her down a corridor and into one of the offices, she wondered it couldn't be _that _Eve…

"Are you kidding me?" Of course it was Eve Torres, and the Latina didn't look or sound amused to see her former friend. She sat at her desk and upon Maryse entering her office, Eve's face dropped. "You're the big fashion writer that I'm supposed to be working with? Shit."

"You didn't know?"

"I was literally just given the brief–" She held up a brown envelope. "I haven't even had a chance to open it yet."

Gail, who was still stood in the doorway, was completely oblivious as to what was going on. "I guess I'll leave you guys to it?" She frowned before leaving them alone.

As Maryse took a seat in the chair opposite Eve, she had a pretty good idea of what was on her mind. When she was first invited to the reunion, one of the main reasons Maryse wanted to go was so she could see Eve, her former best friend that she'd lost contact with. She thought the feeling would be mutual and their friendship would pick up where it left off. Eve wasn't quite as thrilled. In fact, she practically bit Maryse's head off and made her feel the lowest she had in a long time.

Maybe when it came to staying in contact with her best friend, Maryse hadn't made enough effort. In hindsight, she knew that, but at the time, she was so concerned with every other aspect of her life. After graduating from college, she wanted to continue working at _M _and had to fight tooth and nail to keep her position. Keeping Ted in her life was her second priority, as the last thing she wanted to do was lose the man that had been there for her all through college.

Somehow, through all that, she let Eve slip through the cracks. Wanting to retain her job and her love life meant she lost out on the closest friend she ever had.

"Hi Eve," Maryse tried to sound positive. "It's great to see you again."

"Wish I could say the feeling was mutual." Eve muttered under her breath, taking a sip from her Starbucks cup.

"So are you in charge of everything I write?"

"I go over your writing, tell you if it's good, tell you if it's shit, tell you if you've wrote too much or if you've wrote too little…then The Salt House publishes the final product. Before I actually knew it was you that was writing this, I was reluctant to do this. I'm used to covering novels but apparently the department wanted someone young and fashionable to be in charge of this. We could hardly have Tim editing a fashion piece."

"Yeah, those leather patches on his blazer were certainly…something."

The girls exchanged a smile but as soon as Eve realised she'd done it, she quickly wiped it away from her lips, not wanting to give her any satisfaction. "I guess this is another gold star to add to a perfect résumé. Ted must be very proud."

"Actually, I haven't told him." She admitted. "Things haven't exactly been easy between us recently."

"Really?" Eve was surprised, from what she knew of the pair, but tried not to show it.

Maryse nodded. "Yeah, he thinks I'm working too much when all he wants to do is settle down and start a family." It was often she opened up to people but when it came to Eve, Maryse used to tell her best friend everything. "I'm not ready for that yet though and he doesn't seem to understand. Nor does his parents. He just doesn't get it…I love my job and right now, I'm happy doing that and it being the two of us. We have years ahead of us to start a family, you know?"

Hearing that, Eve wasn't all that surprised. Maryse had never really seemed like the family type whereas Ted was always going to be the white-picket fence kind of guy. In college, that contrast worked for them – they brought out different sides in each other – but she could see how in the real world, that might not be the case.

"Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about my problems. What about you? You said you weren't seeing anyone at the reunion."

"I'm actually seeing someone now. He's called Alex. It's early days though – we've only been out three times – but so far, he's…pretty wonderful."

"That's great. You deserve a nice guy."

Eve wasn't sure why she was opening up to Maryse. It was more because she was excited about her relationship with Alex than anything else. She told the blonde how she felt about their non-existent friendship at the reunion and since then, her feelings hadn't changed much. She hurt her when she didn't stay in touch and that wasn't something Eve was going to forget with one little talk. Call it holding a grudge but Eve simply thought she was sticking to her guns.

"Maybe we should keep this professional." Eve said decisively, opening the up the brown envelope which had all of the details about Maryse's book in. "We're not exactly friends anymore so let's just keep this strictly business."

The blonde agreed and began talking to her about her ideas for the book. She remembered how stubborn Eve could be and she knew it would take a lot to get her back on side again.

* * *

Up until around 5pm, Tiffany had been having a wonderful birthday.

She'd arrived at school and the kids in her class had made her a giant birthday card out of coloured cardboard and glitter pens. Although it was using her stock, it was still sweet. Then, one of the teachers brought a birthday cake into the teachers lounge for lunchtime – chocolate fudge, Tiffany's favourite. After school, she'd met up with Kelly – who was still buzzing from a successful acting audition earlier that day – and the pair had met for an early evening drink before Tiffany went home, ready for her night with Drew.

That wonderful birthday seemed to come to a halt when she arrived home and checked her voicemail, finding a missed call from Drew and a voicemail telling her he'd been held up in the office and wouldn't be back until late.

Tiffany considered herself a patient woman. Maybe it was because she was a teacher and worked with children but with adults particularly, she could put up with a lot of bullshit. This applied to her fiancée, who kept her waiting an awful lot, even standing her up on occasion. But each time, she forgave and forgot. On her birthday, however, she didn't plan on being quite so resilient.

Ahead of time, Drew had specifically promised that he'd take the night off so they could spend some time together. She had a perfect night planned; she would get in from meeting Kelly, make them some dinner, they could spend the evening talking before heading up to the bedroom for an 'early night'.

Was that really so much to ask? Apparently so.

If he'd have told her that he'd be busy, she might have accepted this. She would have made other arrangements. Hell, she even had other offers. Kelly, who knew Drew's track record, said she'd take the night off Marcella's and they could go out with some of the other girls. But because Drew _promised_ he'd be there, she declined. He told her this was their time to spend together and yet here he was, blowing her off.

So what did Tiffany do? Upon arriving home, she opened one of the expensive bottles of champagne she'd been given by her parents and drank it by herself, whilst opening all her birthday cards and presents. Alone. The lovely gifts weren't quite so lovely when you're tipsy and feeling depressed.

At around ten pm, she heard Drew's car pull up outside. The rain had been getting heavier and heavier as the night went on and she could hear his quick footsteps trying to escape the incoming thunder. She sat in the windowsill and listened as he walked up the steps to their house, before putting his key in the lock and coming inside. "Tiff?" He called once in the house. He stripped off his wet jacket and turned into the living room to see his wife sat, staring at the droplet-covered glass. The apologies came pouring in faster than the incoming storm. "Honey, I'm _so_ sorry–"

He knelt down in front of her and touched her face but she brushed his hand aside, moving away from his touch. "Don't." She told him coldly. "Just don't."

"I'm sorry Tiff, I couldn't get away–"

"You know, you say that everytime you let me down and sometimes, I just wonder if you don't even try to leave the office." She commented, not looking at him, keeping her stare fixed out of the window. "Your job's important to you and I get that, but sometimes, can't your fiancée come first?"

"You know you always come first with me–"

"No Drew, I don't know that because you never show me that. When it comes to us as a couple, your work doesn't fit around our lives, our lives fit around your work!" She exclaimed, getting to her feet and going into the kitchen to get herself another glass of champagne. "And this isn't even just any old evening – this is my birthday! First, you skip our anniversary, now you skip my birthday. You're not exactly going to win any 'Best Fiancée' awards, are you?"

He looked down at the almost-empty bottle of champagne on the kitchen worktop. "Have you drunk all of that tonight?"

"Wow, now you're going to turn it around on me and act like I'm some crazy drunk. I'm not drunk." She honestly wasn't. Tipsy, perhaps, but after finishing off the leftover birthday cake from the teacher's lounge, she was full enough to not let the alcohol hit her. "Can I ask you a question? My parents sent a couple of bottles of champagne and a poem collection. Kelly and Justin bought me a beautiful scarf, probably too beautiful considering both their incomes combined make up just a fraction of what you make. I'm not saying it's about material possessions but did you even get me anything?"

A look of despair crossed Drew's face as he admitted "I left it at the office."

"Of course you did."

"I honestly did! It's sat in my second drawer and it's gift-wrapped and…I forgot."

Surprisingly, Tiffany genuinely believed him, even though she'd sounded sarcastic. Whenever Drew fucked up, he was always on hand with a present to try and make things better. "But you could get me all the presents in the world but it wouldn't make up for the fact our relationship…it's suffering."

"I think suffering's a little strong–"

"Really? Because I think it's the perfect word."

Just as she said that, a bolt of lightening struck through the dark city sky. The flash lit up the kitchen but all of a sudden, the lights in their house went down. Both of them froze for a minute, before Drew went over to the small radio that sat by the kitchen window. He fiddled with one of the knobs before establishing "The power's out."

"No kidding." She thought of the appropriateness of his words and found herself heading up to her bedroom and getting dressed out of her sweatpants and tank top and into a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt, before slinging her waterproof black coat over the top.

"What're you doing?" Drew followed her up the stairs. Another crack of lightening flashed as he entered the bedroom. "You're not seriously going out, are you?"

"I can't stay here tonight, I have to get out." She found a scruffy brown holdall at the bottom of their wardrobe and grabbed a couple of overnight essentials, throwing them in the bottom. "I have to go somewhere else."

"Tiff, it's a fucking storm outside! By the looks of things, it's a citywide blackout. It's not safe for you to go out there!" Not taking his advice, she headed down the stairs and over to the front door where Drew caught up with her, taking hold of her wrist strongly. "I'm serious. If you're that angry, I'll sleep on the couch, I don't care, let's just get some sleep and we can talk about it tomorrow–"

"No we won't. You'll probably have to go to the office or something." Tiffany responded bitterly before opening the front door and heading out into the rain soaked night.

* * *

Please **review** :)

**NEXT TIME – **_The citywide blackout continues through the night. In the darkness, secrets come out and passions reach a climax._


	16. Shelter From The Storm

I know it's the summer but my updates have been a bit shoddy - not necessarily for this story but possibly some of the others!  
I ended up having to help out a friend doing props for a local show and that meant I was waking up at about 11, going out mid-afternoon and coming home at midnight - not much time for writing!

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews so far and hope you enjoy chapter 16 :)

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**SHELTER FROM THE STORM**

_Citywide blackouts; what a joke_, Mike thought to himself as he traipsed through his dark house with nothing to do, thanks to the lack of electricity. It had occurred on one of his nights off work but he used his cell phone to call one of the employees at the hotel to make sure no catastrophic disasters had taken place which lucky, they hadn't.

Other than the initial work worries, he simply found he was totally bored. No TV, no music station...after reading a copy of Maxim from cover to cover, he ended up falling asleep on the couch, simply because he had no other way of occupying his time. He woke up again at around ten o'clock but only because he heard the front door open and voices flood inside.

"Hello?" He called out, rubbing his eyes and standing upright.

"It's just us."

'Us', being Alex and Eve. Mike had been informed that Alex and his new friend were going out that night and he kindly told him that he probably wouldn't be coming home. Well, Alex didn't keep his promise as Mike followed the voice into the hallway and found the wet couple stood there.

"We were gonna go back to Eve's tonight but we were closer to here and we needed to get out of the rain as quickly as possible." Alex explained. "I've been here a couple of weeks and already experienced a citywide blackout – it's crazy out there."

In the dark hall, Mike could see Eve, dimly lit by some torches he'd found around the house. She was wearing Alex's jacket over whatever dress she had underneath and her hair was damp and flattened by the rain. From what he could see, she was trying to avoid his gaze, keeping it either on her shoes or Alex.

Since their last encounter after Eve and Alex's first date, he hadn't seen her – usually Alex would stay at hers and come back the next morning, grinning from ear to ear and not saying a word. In some ways, Mike was relieved. He couldn't imagine getting out to go to the bathroom at night and hearing his best friend having sex with one of his former flings.

Was he jealous? Jealous was a tough word to define but all he knew was that finding out the two of them were involved didn't settle too well with him.

"Did you want anything to eat or drink?" Alex asked his date.

"No thanks, I'm still full from dinner."

"We went to that new Italian place, _Alla Cante_. It's good but not as nice as that place we went to the other night, what was it called...?"

"_Marcella's._" Eve prompted quietly. She seemed quiet, almost unnerved by Mike being there.

"I've been there – Kelly Blank waitresses there sometimes, doesn't she?" He chipped in, purely for Eve's benefit, telling Alex "She went to college with us. I spoke to her at the reunion – still as sweet as ever. That was a good night, wasn't it, Eve?"

Okay, maybe bringing that up was a bit cheeky but he couldn't resist. Even in the dark, he thought he noticed the colour rise in her cheeks, bringing a smirk onto his face. She yawned slightly, turning to Alex and saying "Mm, I'm tired."

"Come on then, let's hit the sack." He stood behind her, taking his wet jacket off her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "See you in the morning, Mike."

He watched as they walked up the stairs together, watching as he whispered in her ear, making her giggle like a schoolgirl – he'd never heard Eve 'giggle' before. It sounded so unfamiliar; sarcastic, hard-nosed Eve; he'd never seen that side of her.

About fifteen minutes later, he followed them up the stairs, ready to go to bed. As he passed his roommate's bedroom, the sound of their laughter continued, although something told Mike it wasn't Alex's sense of humour that had her giggling. He was glad his bedroom was at the other end of the hall but even so, Mike put in his iPod headphones, trying to clear the sound out from his head.

* * *

"I knew these would come in handy." Justin arrived at _Marcella's_, clutching the unused candlesticks his mother had sent him and Kelly for one of their anniversaries. "I think this blackout's citywide."

"You're an absolute lifesaver." The blonde had sent a desperate voicemail to her boyfriend, begging him to bring something down to the restaurant that would provide them with some more light. What was worse was that the manager had to leave early, therefore Kelly was in charge and freaking out. "I was getting so stressed but everyone seems pretty relaxed...don't they?"

"Absolutely." He agreed, following Kelly into the kitchen as she began to light the candles.

"You know, up until I was about nine, I hated the dark. I had a nightlight that I slept with every evening and took to all my slumber parties with me."

"You were a cool kid, weren't you?"

"The coolest. It was a babysitter that cured me actually. She was called Torrie and she was a teenager so when I was a kid, she was like...the coolest person in the world. Anyway, the first night she came over, she put me to bed at like, nine o clock and turned off the lights, leaving me alone in the dark. I was so scared but I didn't want her to think I was a baby so I just...tried to go to sleep, even though I was terrified. She babysat once a week and everytime she came, she turned the lights off and I never complained. Eventually, I just got used to it."

"'The abusive babysitter' – you should go on Maury."

"You think I've got a good story there?" She smiled, heading out into the restaurant and scattering the candles around. "Thank you so much for coming out here – I don't know what I'd have done."

"You look as if you're doing fine, don't worry about it." He reassured her with a kiss on the cheek. "In fact, I think you could probably take a break."

She looked around the restaurant, biting down on her lip. "Well, it is time for my break and there's enough staff circulating if anyone needs anything...okay, come on." She led her boyfriend through to the backroom where the staff hung out. "So how's your day been?"

"Great – I actually heard back from that Gillette audition I went for."

"And?"

"I got it."

"Baby! That's...amazing! I'm so happy for you!" She leapt up and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a congratulatory kiss. "So what does this mean? You're the face of Gillette?"

"Well, I'm the face of the newest razor. It means I'm on the billboards and doing the commercial as well, which means I'll have to go out to L.A for the shoot, but there's something else my agent told me," he began tentatively. "You know Gillette is a brand of Proctor and Gamble? Well, while I'm out in California, they want me to audition to be the face of some other Proctor and Gamble products. They do Gillette, Braun, Head and Shoulders, Old Spice–"

"So how long will you be gone for?"

"For Gillette, I'll be doing about two weeks worth of work but my agent wants me to stay in L.A for a little longer after that. She says that in New York, all they want is skinny, catwalk boys and my 'Abercrombie look' would be better suited for California so I should try and make the most of it whilst I'm out there–"

"How long?"

"Two, three, maybe even four months." He admitted. "But if I get some solid work, think of how much money that'll bring in – God knows we need it."

For Kelly, it wasn't about the money; it never had been, that's why she was a struggling actress dating a part-time model. Neither of them made a huge amount but up until now, they'd gotten by. She was more concerned about being away from her boyfriend; she'd practically be living by herself. They'd been separated before – and for much longer – but they were older now and it seemed different.

"Time will fly by." It was as if he could read her thoughts. "If you get that play, you'll be super busy and then with _Marcella's _too...you won't have a moment to notice that I'm gone."

"I love you, of course I'll notice." She paused. "When do you leave?"

"In a week."

She didn't get to reply as the bulb in the backroom of the restaurant glowed. Sticking her head outside the door, Kelly saw the power had returned and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I guess that's one less thing to worry about."

"We'll get through this, you know." Justin pulled her in close. "We've done it before and we'll do it again."

"Sure," she whispered into his shoulder. All she could do was try to believe him.

* * *

"I'm sorry for just showing up like this, I didn't know where else to go."

As Jay ushered a rain-soaked Tiffany into his living room, he watched as she shuddered from the freak weather, her clothes dripping onto the floor – at least it was laminated wood or Trish would've freaked out. He didn't know what exactly had happened to her but when she showed up on his doorstep unannounced, completely drenched, something told him that she'd fought with Drew and needed somewhere to go where he wouldn't find her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." He assured her, taking her waterproof off of her. "You look freezing, you should probably take a shower. You can borrow some of Trish's clothes afterwards, if you want."

"Where is she?"

"She's in Toronto for a friend's wedding – I was meant to go along but something came up with work last minute." He led her to the bathroom before dashing away to find her a fresh towel as well as the first stack of Trish's clothes he could find. "She won't mind, don't worry."

"Thank you so much." She smiled genuinely. "I just–"

"Don't worry about it. Please, just get yourself warmed up."

About fifteen minutes later, Tiffany stepped out of Jay's shower, warm and clean. She towel-dried her long hair and got dressed into the clothes she'd been given – a pair of black yoga pants, a plain baby pink t-shirt and a grey cardigan. Before, she'd been so caught up in how cold she was and how angry she still was over her fight with Drew that she hadn't processed that she was at Jay's place. It was like college Tiffany's dream come true.

From what she'd seen, it was like a bottom floor apartment but larger. It was all on one floor and there was a living room, adjacent kitchen and dining room, as well as a bathroom and two bedrooms. It was definitely Jay's house that Trish had moved into – it was simple and modern.

She went into the living room where Jay was sat on the couch, watching something on the TV – the power had come back on just before she had arrived. When he saw her, he got to his feet and signalled at the coffee table. "I made you a cup of tea. I don't drink the stuff myself but Trish always buys it. Plus I remember you said you liked it–"

"Thank you." They both sat down on the couch next to each other and she picked up the drink, letting the hot mug warm up her hands. "I'm much better now."

"So are you going to tell me what happened? I doubt you were just walking around in the middle of a storm for the fun of it. Hardly a brilliant way to spend your birthday."

Looking up from her cup of tea at him, her eyes widened as she whispered, "You remembered it was my birthday?"

"I got you a card – it's in the bedroom – but we haven't spoken in a while so I didn't see any point in writing it." At the mention of this, they both stopped but he spoke up again. "So what happened? Shouldn't you be with your fiancée on your birthday?"

"Actually Drew's the reason I'm here. We got into a fight and I stormed out." She explained, running a hand through her damp locks. "I had this whole night planned for the two of us and he called me to say he was held up at the office. I know, it happens, but with him, it's more often than not that he's 'held up at the office.' I don't get why he couldn't have just taken this one night out, you know?"

"I get it."

"Well, when he got home, I got really angry with him. I'd had a little bit to drink at that point – don't look at me like that, I'm fine now! Rain is a wonderful sobering tool. Anyway, I'm just not ready to talk to him tonight. I knew if I went to stay at Kelly's, he'd show up and demand we talk and sort it out. Here, he wouldn't find me."

Jay looked at the blonde, completely stripped of her make-up. There was sadness in her eyes but on her lips, there was a hint of a smile. He couldn't quite work her out. "You're always welcome here."

"The worst part of it was, halfway through this fight, I was looking at Drew and thinking 'This is the man I'm engaged to marry.'" She looked down at the ring on her finger and shook her head. "And I just thought, am I making the right decision? Is _this_ the man I want to spend the rest of my life with? Is _this_ the man I'm destined to be with?"

By this point, he'd turned off the TV and his body was facing Tiffany, completely entranced by what she was saying. "Do you really believe in destiny?"

"I believe that the universe has a crazy way of working. I think it decides that two people should be together and it won't rest until that happens. Call me an old-fashioned romantic or call me a sap, I don't care, it's the way I've always felt."

"Does Drew believe that?"

"I've never asked him. He'd probably call me a sap." She laughed, sipping her tea. "When you look at Trish, do you think 'That's the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with' or 'that's the woman I'm destined to be with'?"

He faltered. He should've answered straight away but he couldn't because he didn't know the answer to her question.

She noticed the look of hesitation on his face and instantly regretted asking it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–"

"No, you're right. When I look at her, that's not what I see. I love Trish and I could easily spend the rest of my life with her and have a perfectly nice existence but if we're talking destiny and true romance…I don't know. I don't know if she's my soul mate."

"I guess you have to decide whether you want to settle for a nice existence or hold out for a perfect life and perfect love."

Jay nodded thoughtfully before putting forward a question of his own. "Do you ever look at the ring on your finger and think you've made a mistake?"

Tiffany only paused for a second before replying "All the time." Her head bowed as she said this but Jay put a finger under her chin, tipping it back up so she was looking at him. Without even thinking, she leaned forward and kissed him.

Both of them were having the exact same thoughts. Of how this was years in the making, years of longing that had finally arrived. Tiffany thought about how she could've stayed there forever, their fingers entangled and their lips working together; it was so different and wonderful, like a whole new door had been opened.

He pulled away for a moment before kissing her again, so softly this time that she thought she might die. He extended a hand to her and led her into his bedroom, his lips attaching to hers once again as their clothes seemed to flutter away behind them.

Before, Tiffany had found that sex was just sex – overrated and usually more fulfilling for Drew than her – but with Jay, it was that door metaphor again. When he kissed her the tip of her nose or his fingertips brushed against her bare back, she felt goose bumps run up and down her body. She just wanted to disappear into him.

When she was a teenager, she'd read an article about sex in one of her mother's magazine where it described how meeting your partner's gaze during sex was like looking into their soul. The whole idea seemed so bizarre that she avoided looking into Drew's eyes when they did it but when she looked up at Jay and their eyes met, it took her breath away. No one had ever looked at her that way before, like she was the most special person in the world.

After it was over, she didn't want to think about anything or anyone else. The world outside the apartment could wait as her head flopped against his chest and his arms were woven around her protectively, willing her never to leave him again.

* * *

... ;) Please **review**! xx

**NEXT TIME – **_It's the morning after for Jay and Tiffany and Ted surprises Maryse._


	17. Surprise

Hellooo :) Chapter 17 here! Thank you for all the reviews so far!  
Enjoy...

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**SURPRISE**

Was it strange to watch a partner whilst she slept? If so, call Jay crazy because since he woke up about five minutes before, he couldn't take his eyes off of Tiffany.

The previous night flooded back to him and instead of having some awful 'morning after flashbacks', he felt happy to be there. Considering the circumstances, he should've been filled with regrets but this was far from the case. Having Tiffany there felt right, like she should've been there a lot sooner.

He propped himself up onto his elbow whilst the beautiful woman next to him slept peacefully. She didn't move much in her sleep, her body turned towards him, her blonde hair strewn across the pillow beneath her and what looked to be a hint of a smile on her face. He couldn't resist kissing her forehead carefully and brushing any stray hairs out of her face.

The slight movement managed to bring her out of her slumber, as her eyes fluttered open and locked with Jay, the small smile already on her lips only widening. "Good morning."

"Good morning." He leaned over to kiss her on the lips and much to his relief, she responded. "Did you have a good birthday?"

She laughed, pulling the duvet around her frame with a smile. "Yes, I had a _wonderful_ birthday. Although I don't think I got a birthday present from you...?"

"Hey, I gave you a birthday present."

"Oh, so that's what you're calling it?"

"I was referring to the cup of tea I made you yesterday." He said with a smile, returning her laughter. "Although I did actually get you a card. I thought I mentioned that..." Finding his boxers on the floor, he slipped them on and went over to one of the drawers, where he pulled out an envelope before climbing back into bed next to her. "Here."

She tore into the envelope and was greeted by a simplistic card, inside reading 'Tiffany, Happy birthday, Jay'. "Who said romance was dead?" She joked.

"Well, I wasn't exactly going to recite you a Shakespearian sonnet with my fiancée in bed next to me whilst I wrote it." The mention of Trish sent a chill through the air, as the cruel reality of the real world became apparent to them both. It was Jay that decided to continue, saying "I don't regret last night, you know."

"You don't?"

He shook his head. "Sure, it wasn't morally right but since you graduated, not a day's gone by where you haven't crossed my mind. I remember you spent your nineteenth birthday working on one of your essays with me instead of going out with your friends – I saw the way you looked at me when you left and I felt the same way but I couldn't do anything...my job was at stake–"

"I understand – nothing could've happened whilst I was your student. You don't have to defend yourself in front of me." She put her hands either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss on the lips. "You know what I was saying about destiny last night? How the universe pushes two people together and it won't stop until that happens? I think we ran into each other in that cafe for a reason."

"I don't know what's going to happen between us–"

"–but I'm not ready for it to end just yet."

Nothing else either of them said would've made the slightest difference. It was evident to the English professor that sometimes, words meant nothing.

* * *

After a long day at work, there was nothing that Mike wanted more than to crash out on his couch, a beer in one hand, the TV remote in the other. Sons of Anarchy, Entourage, Mad Men...so many shows on his TiVo, definitely not enough hours in the day.

It had been a tough day at the hotel. Other than the occasional distraction in the form of Kaitlyn's tight skirt, it had been one problem after another. Firstly, a fussy couple had checked in and complained that their room wasn't up to scratch and were moved to a good five rooms before they settled, then a wedding rehearsal lunch that took place ended in a fight when the best man had a few too many at the bar and decided to tell the groom _exactly_ what he thought of him, resulting in a fight on the terrace.

All in all, it had been a day from hell and he just wanted to escape the Monty Garrett until his shift began the next morning.

Stood on his doorstep, he loosened his tie and unlocked the door. He could see the light on in the living room window but going inside, he heard voices inside. Not only was Alex home but he had a visitor. When he followed the voices into the living room, he was greeted by Alex and Eve, sat on his couch, watching Mad Men on the TV.

For a moment, neither of them appeared to notice Mike. Alex was sat side-by-side with the beautiful brunette, who wore a pair of slim fitting jeans and a simple grey t-shirt, her legs curled underneath her and her head against Alex's shoulder. Mike coughed to get their attention and both heads turned in his direction.

"Get over here, Mad Men's just started." Alex told him.

He looked over at Eve, who briefly returned his glance before turning back to the television. There was that love/hate relationship the pair had; no matter how many snotty looks she shot him or how many sarcastic comments she came out with, he still found it difficult to resist her. But most of all, he found it difficult not to wind her up in return, which is why without hesitation, he sat down the other side of her, a wide smile on his face.

"Christina Hendricks is hot." Remembering how much Eve hated Mike's treatment of women, he decided to amp it up. "I would. Repeatedly. That's the body of a real woman."

"January Jones isn't bad either." Alex noticed the look on Eve's face and quickly added "I mean, if you're into that sort of thing."

"You know, someone at the hotel the other day said I was the Don Draper of the Monty Garrett–"

"I don't think Don Draper would talk through TV shows." Eve snipped at him.

Alex raised an eyebrow at the pair, unaware of the tension and history between the two. "So if I go and get a beer, will the two of you have killed each other by the time I get back?" His comment was meant sarcastically, as he disappeared into the kitchen and left the pair to bicker alone.

"Clearly you don't have any objections to playing third wheel." She lowered her voice and folded her arms stubbornly across her chest. "Don't you have anything better to do than sit here with me and Alex?"

"Probably, but I forgot how much fun it is to irritate you. Besides, are you trying to kick me out of my own house?"

"No, just your living room."

They both quietened down again as Alex re-entered the room, two beers for himself and Mike, as well as the Diet Coke that Eve requested, and didn't speak until the commercials came on. Occasionally, Mike was aware of Eve whispering something in Alex's ear or him squeezing her knee but he paid little attention; he knew in the never ending war of Torres and Mizanin, he'd won this battle.

* * *

Ted didn't consider himself a particularly spontaneous guy. In fact, much of the time, he was cautious and considerate of his actions and how they'd affect those around him. He was safe. On a couple of occasions in college, he remembered Mike Mizanin joking that his best friend was 'Crazy Cody' and he was 'Tentative Ted'. If he were an ice-cream, he'd probably be vanilla.

Tonight, however, he planned on proving them wrong as he sat in his living room, waiting for his wife to arrive home.

The firsts step was calling up Maryse's cousin Lacey to see if the house in Connecticut was free for the weekend. It may not have been amazingly spontaneous, considering Lacey was an old friend, not to mention he'd already spoken to her about renting it, but when the house was free, he snapped it up straight away. Next, he called in at Maryse's office and checked with Alicia that any meetings or arrangements between Friday and Monday could be rescheduled. This was the case and he made the assistant stay quiet.

The next job was to pack a bag of his own – a quick job – but packing Maryse's suitcase would be much more of a challenge. He knew if he left it down to his wife to pack, they'd end up with more luggage than they had space so he decided to take control. In the end, he threw in no more than twelve pieces, dragged the case down the stairs and placed it next to his case by the front door.

Eventually Maryse arrived home, coming through the front door looking as beautiful and collected as ever, albeit slightly tired. She looked over at Ted with a weak smile before she caught sight of the suitcases in the doorway and looked confused. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Nope, we are." He announced, rising to his feet. "I've been on the phone with Lacey and I've booked us the house for the weekend. We're staying in that New Haven bed and breakfast tonight before going to the house tomorrow morning."

Initially, his wife didn't react to what he was saying. After looking blankly at him for a moment or so, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh Ted–"

"I get it, you're going to go on about how much work you have and how busy you are and that you don't have time for a weekend away but I've already spoken with Alicia. She's moved all your meetings and deadlines back so we can have this time together."

"Why didn't you ask me first?"

"Because I knew you'd say no and for the first time in my life, I decided to be spontaneous. Mainly because I think it was needed for the sake of our marriage." He admitted. "Things have been shit between us and I want to fix that. Let's spend some time away from Blackberry messengers and away from crazy offices. Just the two of us. Wouldn't that be brilliant?"

She didn't look convinced. Her teeth were clenched together and her eyes looked expectantly at Ted, as if she were waiting for him to give her one final convincing argument. "I don't know–"

"I'm really trying here, Ryse. Just a couple of days of your time, just so we can be...us, again." The desperation was now evident in his voice as one of his hands slipped onto her cheek, his fingers smoothing along the made-up skin. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes for a moment and sighing quietly. In that moment, he felt like he had the old Maryse back.

Her eyes blinked open and she whispered "Okay."

He couldn't quite believe it. "Really?" She nodded again, not saying anything but keeping a genuine smile locked on her lips, even when Ted kissed her on the mouth.

"Yes. Now let's go before I change my mind."

* * *

Chapter 18 will be all Maryse/Ted (centered around their vacation) but chapter 19 (which I already have written out - on a roll anyone?) will be back to normal.  
Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Maryse and Ted head away for the weekend but will their marriage be recovered or ruined? _


	18. Make It Or Break It

Massive apology for the month+ delay since the last update! A combination of writers block and general business got in the way but I'm baaaaack and better than ever (okay, enough of the Bischoff).  
As I mentioned before, this will be Maryse/Ted centric - hope you enjoy!

* * *

**M****AKE IT OR BREAK IT**

The cab driver dropped Maryse and Ted off in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere and instructed them to follow the dirt track to the end where their house would be. Mrs DiBiase, in her four inch Tory Burch wedges, wasn't too happy about the uneven path however when they arrived and were greeted by the house, it was worth the walk.

"Beautiful." She murmured aloud, as her husband dropped their suitcases and fumbled with the key to let them inside.

If possible, the house was even nicer than they remembered it. The cabin was humble in size, only two bedrooms and one bathroom, but was furnished inside with open log fires, warm blankets in every room and what Ted remembered to be the comfiest bed he'd ever slept in. The best parts of the house, however, were the view. Windows at the front of the house showed off the surrounding woodland but the ones at the back boasted the clear, crystal blue lake.

"I forgot how amazing this place was. Lacey said she'd leave us something in the kitchen–" Carrying their bags into the cabin and leaving them in the living area, Ted went into the kitchen. "–here it is." He held up a hamper that sat on the counter; champagne, chocolates and a packet of condoms being the main contents. "Oh my God." He laughed, burying his head in his hands. It was just a simple reminder that he and his wife hadn't had sex in a very long time but it amused him so much that after a second, all he could do was laugh.

"Lacey!" Maryse entered the kitchen and found herself grinning at her cousin's filthy sense of humour. "She's disgusting."

"She left a note – _Hey guys, hope you enjoy the hamper I left and you'll find everything's up to my cousin's high standards! Please enjoy your weekend together, and Ted, don't worry about the bill, consider this my birthday present to Maryse! Enjoy yourselves, L x'._"

"High standards?" Maryse wrinkled her nose. "I do not have–"

"Oh, so on our honeymoon, you didn't make us change rooms three times because of the bed sheets?"

"I have sensitive skin and the sheets were irritating my legs!"

"Right! So you can have sex with me on a twig-covered path in front of the lake but the Parisian hotel sheets chaffed your thighs?"

Jaw dropping and cheeks flushing at the memory, she smacked him across the arm. "That was a long time ago! Everyone has sex in strange places in college. And I think we did it in much worse places than in front of a lake! From what I can remember, no surface went untouched."

"True, I don't think Tiffany ever would've forgiven us if we told her we'd done it in her bathroom at her parents' thirtieth wedding anniversary party."

"But I don't think she could blame us – that party was boring as hell! If she had a boyfriend, she'd have done exactly the same." They both laughed at the memory of their college years, back when everything was so much simpler. Being in the bubble of college, all they had to think about was themselves and their studies but trying to maintain a relationship in the real world was so much harder. The laughter died away but a small smile kept the corners of Maryse's lips upturned. "Things were different then, weren't they?"

Ted tilted his head to the side. "They don't have to be _that_ different."

"What do you mean?"

He stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and he kissed her. Her hands slid into his hair, tugging at the short strands as his arms wound around her waist.

She'd missed him, missed _this_. Being intimate with her husband. Everytime something happened with Ted, it was so wonderfully familiar; the same cologne he'd worn since college, the same feeling of his hands sliding around her waist; it felt _right._ No matter what changed in her life, Ted always stayed the same and there was something comforting about that.

With strong hands, Ted steered the blonde into the bedroom as they tumbled down onto the bed. Brushing a lock of hair out of her face, he whispered "I should go get a–"

"You don't need to."

"What?"

"Shh, stop talking." She cut her husband off with a swift kiss on the mouth, her hands going to work on the buckle on his jeans. It definitely wasn't the right moment for them to be talking about that...or to be talking, full-stop.

* * *

In the corner of the bedroom, the log fire burned away, the smoky smell floating over to Maryse's nostrils as she lay next to Ted in bed, her head rested on his chest. There was nothing that she would've changed about that moment; she felt so comfortable and happy.

"Why don't we get a real log fire?" She murmured, her fingers lacing through her husband's.

"Because we live in the middle of the city with nowhere for me to collect wood from?"

Maryse's lips curved into a lazy smile as she let out a giggle.

"Don't tell me you're getting all rustic on me?"

"Not rustic...I just like the fire." As she said this, Ted rolled out of bed, finding his boxers on the floor and slipping them on. "What're you doing?" she asked, sitting upright.

"I need to go to the bathroom – apparently my bladder isn't as strong as yours," he joked, disappearing into the next room.

Settling back down into bed, wrapping the covers tightly around her frame, Maryse knew this trip was exactly what she and Ted needed. She couldn't remember the last time they lay in bed together, just talking or joking. Plus, the return of their sex life didn't hurt either; having her husband kiss and touch her again was perfect. It reminded her of the days when they were newlyweds, the perfect couple without a care in the world. It felt like things were finally at peace.

They could cuddle in bed as much as they wanted back home but then and there, she wanted to do something they could only do whilst by the lake. She got out of bed and went through the suitcase Ted had packed for her, pulling out a pair of skinny jeans, a Miu Miu sweater and some Ralph Lauren riding boots (not that she'd ever been near a horse in her life) – she noted Ted hadn't packed any shoe with a heel on it.

"How long was I in there for?" Normally Maryse took forever to get ready so when Ted came out of the bathroom and saw his wife dressed, he couldn't quite believe it. Her face was only consisted of the light make-up she'd put on in the cab to the cabin, and her blonde hair was loose and wavy; she looked wonderful.

"Get dressed – I want to go for a walk by the lake."

"Really?"

"Yes, now put some clothes on." She sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for Ted to throw some clothes on, when she heard her Blackberry vibrate inside her handbag. Her first instinct was to answer it but she knew that this vacation was about getting away from all that so she picked it up and rejected the call.

"You're not gonna get that?" Ted asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Nope. Come on, let's go."

* * *

After an afternoon spent outdoors, the wind blowing through her hair and in her face, a hot shower was exactly what Maryse wanted. When she stepped out onto the bathmat fifteen minutes later, her hair smelt of berries, her skin felt soft from the rose body lotion and she felt wide awake. She slipped into the same pair of skinny jeans she'd been wearing earlier, along with a grey tank-top and a warm black cable knit sweater.

Padding along the floor and into the kitchen, she found Ted in front of the stove, the radio on and Huey Lewis and The News 'Power of Love' playing. For a moment, she hung back and watched him, using her hand to conceal the grin on her lips. He was such a cutie.

"_You don't need money, don't take fame, don't need no credit card to ride this train_–" Maryse had to stifle a giggle. "–_It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes but it might just save your life...that's the power of love_!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, our new American Idol!" She joked as she entered the kitchen, sitting down on one of the barstools, a wide smile on her face.

"You're just jealous because my knowledge of eighties film soundtracks is far superior to yours."

"Clearly I haven't seen 'Back to the Future' as many times as you have."

He rolled his eyes; she was just jealous. "Anyway, hungry? I'm making dinner – fettuccine carbonara used to be your favourite."

"Oh my God, I haven't had carbonara in years. I forgot how good a cook you were."

"Here," he held out the wooden spoon for her to try some of the sauce, "how is it?"

"Heavenly." She licked her lips. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"You want to help in the kitchen?" The kitchen was the last place Ted expected Maryse to be offering to help out. She looked genuine and with a smile, he said "Keep an eye on the sauce. I'm just gonna grab a sweater of my own."

He left her to look after the food as he disappeared into the bedroom to grab his sweater which was draped over the end of the bed. Just as he was about to go back out to the bedroom, he heard his wife's Blackberry buzz again – clearly that thing never stopped going – and when he peeked to see who was calling, he saw '_The Salt House.' _

The Salt House... why did that sound so familiar? Furrowing his brow, he went back into the kitchen to find Maryse, who looked up at him innocently. "What?"

"You just missed a call from The Salt House." He informed her. "Whatever that is."

She twisted her lips guiltily; she had yet to inform her husband about the recent book deal she'd signed...perhaps now was as good a time as any? "It's a book publishing company – I'm actually in the process of writing a book."

The look Ted gave her was completely indescribable; shock didn't quite cover it. She didn't know whether it was because he couldn't imagine her writing a book or because she'd kept it from him. "You're writing a book? Like, a novel?"

"Not a novel...it's a fashion book. Telling women what I think they should wear."

"So we have a bunch of Maryse clones walking up and down Fifth Avenue?" It might not have meant to come out so harshly but she found herself recoiling at his words. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I'm happy for you, it's just... a surprise. Why didn't you tell me?"

_Because I knew you'd be angry with me for taking on more work? Because our relationship was already in trouble and I didn't want to make it worse? _"I don't know."

"How much money do the publishers think you're going to make out of this?" She told him the figure and his eyes widened approvingly. "Wow that will come in handy in the future." He didn't say what exactly it would come in handy for but Maryse knew what he was talking about.

Neither of them said anything else, a frosty silence settling over the kitchen as Ted put the food onto plates and carried them over to the kitchen table where they both sat down to eat. How had things gone back to the way they were before in a matter of seconds? Suddenly, her appetite seemed to dissolve after just a couple of mouthfuls, as she sat, twirling the fettuccine around her plate.

"Does it taste bad or something?"

"No, it's fine." She replied, putting down her cutlery. "Can I ask you something? Are you mad that I didn't tell you about the book deal? Because if so, I'm sorry, but we haven't exactly been on great terms lately and I didn't want to just spring it on you at some random interval – back in the city, we were barely talking to each other and I thought just coming up to you and saying 'hey, I'm writing a book' wouldn't be...great timing."

"I'm not mad that you didn't tell me about it, I'm just..." He took a large bite of pasta. "There's this wedge between us and we seem to be moving further and further apart. And now you're not even telling about this huge opportunity you've had? Of course I'm happy for you but it's like we're two people, living in the same house but living separate lives."

"I've got a career that I love, Ted, I can't–"

"I know you love your job and that's one of the things I love about you. It sounds weird but the fact you're this independent woman that doesn't _need_ me is one of the things I love most about you. I don't want you to change – you're perfect the way you are – but I wish...I don't know–"

"You wish we wanted the same things."

"We _do_ want the same things–"

"We want the same things but at different times." It was the exact truth. "We're both perfectionists and we want the perfect job and the perfect family. Right now, I want to focus on my career and make something of myself but you're ready to settle down and have kids. It doesn't mean I love you any less, it just means we're at different places and worrying about it is just going to make us both miserable."

"What're you trying to say? That we're wasting our time together?"

"No! Don't turn it around and make it sound like I'm saying _that_!" Things were getting heated between the pair as Maryse raised her voice at him. "What I'm trying to say is I'd appreciate it if there wasn't this weight on my shoulders...Like because I don't want to have a baby with you straight away, I'm a bad person!"

"When have I ever called you a bad person?" That seemed to get to him, as he got to his feet and pushed his plate away. All he'd ever tried to do was facilitate her needs and suddenly he was the bad guy? No, he wasn't going to stand for that. "Of all the things that have happened between us, I've never bad mouthed you once. I'm actually insulted that you'd think that."

"I just said it feels that way–"

"Well if we're talking about how we feel, I'm going to tell you something. I want kids. I want a big family and I've never made any secret of that. Yeah, I want them relatively soon and yet everytime I bring up the possibility of it, I feel like I'm treading on your toes. We've been together for so many years, it shouldn't be that way at all."

She leaned forward on the table, her elbows on the wood and her chin against her balled up fists. "I don't want to have this argument with you, Ted."

"And I didn't bring you here to fight. I thought we could have a weekend away from all our problems but I guess running away from them doesn't solve anything. When we're pretending everything's okay then we're fine but we can't keep doing that."

She paused, her eyes focusing in on his without so much as a blink hitting them. "Maybe we need some space. From each other."

"Maybe we do."

Secretly, that was the last thing either of them wanted but it seemed like the only option they had left. With that said, Maryse pushed aside the half empty plate and left the kitchen, disappearing into the bedroom to pack her suitcase. She came out ten minutes later with everything ready and a cab called. Those ten minutes weren't all spent packing; a majority of it was her sat on the bed, head in her hands, wondering what on earth her marriage was coming to. Was this the end for them?

Ted was stood over by dishwasher in the kitchen when she came out again, dragging her suitcase behind her. He wasn't washing anything, all the food was still a congealed mess on the plates. He looked up at her and asked "Are you really leaving?"

"I think I need to go home...I say home, I've texted Jack and he's said I can stay with him for a few days." Jack, being a close family friend of the Ouellet's, one of the only ones that lived in the city. Hearing a car drawing up outside and assuming it was the taxi, she assured him "My cell phone will be on if you need to get in touch with me, however I think it's best if we just... you know."

He nodded, not another word leaving his lips as he watched his wife close the cabin door carefully behind her and once again, without even realising, run away from the shambles left of their marriage.

* * *

Please **review**, my pretties :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Tiffany receives an apology and Kelly waves goodbye to Justin_


	19. Hold It Together

All I have to say is that my readers/reviewers are beautiful :) love y'allll!  
Enjoy chapter 19!

* * *

**HOLD IT TOGETHER**

It was a well-known fact that Eve Torres was not a morning person. On her days away from the office, she was more than happy to stay in bed until noon, snoozing in and out of sleep and only tumbling out of bed to get herself a cup of coffee or to go to the bathroom.

When she woke up that morning, she thanked God for Alex's blackout blinds and their ability to shut out even the sunniest days. She turned to her left, looking at the clock which read 9:57AM. She then turned to her right but instead of being greeted by Alex, her hand fell onto an empty mattress where her boyfriend should've been. Frowning, she sat upright and looked around the room, in search of some sort of evidence for his disappearance. She eventually noticed a piece of paper next to the alarm clock saying,

_Just got a call from the office telling me they've moved my meeting forward. Didn't want to wake you up – I know how you love your sleep! Hang around the apartment for as long/little as you like and just let yourself out whenever you want. A x._

If it were any other guy, Eve would be humiliated that she'd been run out on but Alex was a good guy and she believed that his excuse was legitimate.

She got out of bed and put her underwear back on, finding them in a neat pile on the floor – surprising, considering the events of the previous night. In the hope that she had an empty house on her hands, Eve stuck her head out of the bedroom door; silence. If ever she got cold at his house, her choice of apparel was always his old Boston College sweatshirt and that morning, she slipped in on over the top of her underwear.

After slipping into the bathroom to freshen up, she went downstairs in search of black coffee but as she turned the kitchen door handle, she became very aware of a radio playing inside. It was too late for Eve to turn back, all she could do was hope Alex had left it on before he left but instead, she went inside and found Mike stood by the fridge, drinking coffee and eating toast.

The only thing that would've been able to remove the smug smirk from that man's face was a chisel.

"Ah, the walk of shame." He mused. "There's nothing better than seeing another person coming downstairs, scantily clad and shamefaced."

It was then that Eve remembered her bare legs and barely covered knickers. She wondered if Alex's house had a hole she could crawl up and die in.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Evie. I've seen you in far less than a sweatshirt and a thong."

"I'm not even wearing a thong, they're French knick–" She stopped, aware that his plan to irritate her was already in full-swing. "Don't be a douche, it's too early in the morning. Don't you have a hotel to be looking after?"

"I start at eleven. Coffee?"

"Yes please. Bla–"

"You have your first cup black and your second is black with a drop of milk and your third black with a drop of milk and a sugar cube; yeah, I remember," when he turned and saw her raised eyebrow at his memory, he laughed it off, saying "only because it's so stupid."

He poured her a cup of coffee in silence, her quietly thanking him as she accepted it before leaning back against the kitchen worktop. He offered her a slice of toast but she declined; when she woke up, she needed a good hour before she anything solid passed her lips.

"So you and Alex had a good night last night," Mike said casually.

"Yeah, it was fine."

"Fine? You're not doing my friend justice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

That smirk came over his lips again as, in a high-pitched moan, he imitated what he'd heard the previous night when going to the bathroom at two am "_Oh Alex, Alex please, Alex, I need you, faster Alex, faster..._"

"Oh my God, you heard us?" If Eve wasn't positively mortified before, she definitely was now. Her jaw may as well have been scraping against the kitchen tiles and knowing Mike had heard them left her feeling filthy. "I can't believe–"

"Once again, it's nothing I haven't heard before."

She blushed but not wanting him to know how flustered he'd got her, she put on a brave face, announcing. "It's not that big a deal; it's just sex."

"Is that all it is between you and Alex? Just sex?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it; you're twisting my words."

"So it's serious between the two of you?" When she shot him a 'why do you care?' look, his reply was "Just curious. He's my best friend and you and I went to college together. I'm just interested."

"I don't know if I'd describe it as 'serious' – we haven't been seeing each other that long and I'm not exactly thinking marriage and kids right now," She began, "But yeah, I really like him. He's a good guy and they're hard to come by so I'd like to hold onto what we've got."

"Plus, if he's as good in the bedroom as he sounds, then that's a hell of a good reason to keep him around."

"You're disgusting." What was almost a sentimental moment had been ruined, she thought, shaking her head and taking another sip of her coffee. She ran a hand through a sleep-messy hair and opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of her cell phone ringing in the bedroom caught her attention. "I'd better get that." And leaving Mike stood alone in the kitchen, she took her coffee cup and disappeared back up the stairs.

* * *

Whatever was going on in her personal life, Tiffany always found she could escape when she got into her classroom and spent time with the kids that she taught. No Drew, no Jay, just 3D shapes, Roald Dahl stories and trying to deal with the nosebleeds that Toby Jacobs seemed to get on an hourly basis.

"Okay Toby, you can head out for the last few minutes of recess. Go on kiddo."

Scooping the young boy off her lap and throwing the bloody tissues in the trash can, she waved Toby into the playground and he skipped off out of the classroom, leaving Tiffany to wash her hands and begin handing out the books for story time when everyone came back inside, ready for the madness to continue. Hearing a knock at the door, she stopped and saw Mia Walker, another of her students, stood there.

"Miss Terrell, Holly stole my Bride Barbie and she says it's her turn to play with it, even though _I_ got it out from the toy box and you said yesterday..."

Tiffany sighed; if only the dramas in _her_ life were as simple as a stolen doll. "Well, I'll speak to Holly after recess and make sure you can play with Bride Barbie at lunch. Until then, you can help me by putting everyone's books out on their tables."

The seven year old nodded happily and took a handful of books from the teacher's hands. Watching her, a smile fell onto Tiffany's face; as a teacher, you weren't mean to have favourites but if she could only pick one member of the class to be her child, she'd have angelic little Mia. "I can't wait to be a bride." Mia chatted away happily, the Barbie doll still on her mind.

"You've got a long way before that, honey." She chuckled, ruffling the little girl's soft brown hair.

"Are you going to wear a white dress like Bride Barbie? And are you not gonna be called Miss Terrell anymore?"

She hoped her dress wouldn't be too much like Bride Barbie's; puffed sleeves that large were surely a crime in the twenty-first century. "Yes, I'll wear a white dress. And my name will be Mrs McIntyre after I get married, but for now, you still have to call me Miss Terrell."

There was another knock at the classroom door. Expecting it to be one of her students, she put on a friendly smile but when she turned and saw her fiancée, she felt her breath catch in her throat and a frown formed on her lips.

"Mia, go outside and play for a few minutes. I need to talk to–" She paused briefly, unsure as to how she was meant to respond. Luckily, she didn't have to name him as the little girl skipped outside, leaving the engaged couple alone.

A week had passed since the power cut and since Tiffany stormed out on Drew. It had also been a week since she last spoke to him, having avoided every single one of his calls, texts or emails. Until Trish came home, she'd been able to stay with Jay but after that, it was clearly her time to go and ever since, she'd been sleeping on Kelly and Justin's couch, hiding in the bathroom when Drew came over to see where she was and getting her friends to lie that she was staying with a co-worker.

When it came to Jay, she wasn't entirely sure of where things were going to go and her feelings were definitely mixed up and shaken down. At the time, she was too angry at Drew to feel remorse for what happened but having him stood there in front of her, she felt even more confused than ever.

"You haven't been responding to my messages but I knew you couldn't avoid me if I came here." He walked over to the window and stared out at the schoolyard where the kids were playing. "Cute kids."

"Yes, they're wonderful."

He turned around and went over to her, his taller frame closing the distance between them. "Come home, Tiff. I miss you. It's not home without you – it's just me, wandering around an empty house."

"That would imply you actually have to be there some of the time." Her comment was biting but if it caught him off-guard, he didn't show it.

"Okay, I deserved that, but please, I need you back in my life. This past week...it's been awful without you. I know I've been selfish and I've put work before you but from now on, it's you. It's you and me and our future. We're engaged, we're going to get married–"

"Drew–"

"Tiff." He kissed her on the lips – softly, thankfully, considering her class were beginning to line up at the door and were looking inside. He lowered his voice, aware of their presence. "Tonight. You're going to come home and things are going to get better."

Why had guilt suddenly caught up with her? She felt ashamed of the way she'd gone behind Drew's back. How could she, an engaged woman, lie to her fiancée, the man she was meant to be marrying? She'd sacrificed her future for a fling with a former college professor; was she insane? And was she even more insane for wanting to see Jay again?

"You're still wearing your ring." He lifted one of her delicate hands and smiled. "That's a good sign."

"The kids see it every day – if I took it off, they'd notice and start asking questions."

"So will I see you tonight for dinner?" After a moment's hesitation, she nodded and Drew took her in his arms, leaving the blonde to hold up the ring finger behind his back and consider the value of such a beautiful diamond when it came with so many repercussions.

* * *

As he dragged his suitcase into the living room of his apartment, Justin took a look around and smiled. When he was in Los Angeles, this was exactly how he wanted to remember it; his girlfriend's gossip magazines sprawled across the coffee table, one of her half-eaten pasta salads on the kitchen worktop and her shoes strangely sat on any available surface. Despite his constant attempts at tidying up, Kelly's scatty habits reigned supreme but as he'd be staying in a sparse hotel room, he was going to miss her mess.

In around seven hours, he'd be sat in his Los Angeles hotel room, probably ordering room service and watching whatever crap was on the TV before he got a call from his agent, ready to take him on a tour of the city despite the fact he'd probably want to sleep off his jetlag. Los Angeles was beautiful but what was more beautiful was the girlfriend he'd be leaving behind. The girlfriend that had just appeared at the front door, a weak smile on her lips as she attempted a brave face for him.

"The cab's outside. Have you got everything packed?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm sure I'll be able to pick up anything I've forgot at the airport." He grabbed his leather jacket off the back off the couch and followed his girlfriend outside, locking the apartment door behind him after double checking she had her key on her. As he climbed into the cab behind her and directed the driver to the airport, he looked at his girlfriend. "Don't be sad – I can't bear the thought of leaving you like this."

"It's fine, please don't worry about me." She lied. "I'm not _sad_. Obviously I'm not _happy_ that you're leaving but this is a great opportunity for you and I know that before I can say Abercrombie & Fitch, you'll be home again." Justin knew this was the case but he wondered if Kelly was just saying it reassure him.

Either way, she wasn't going to show it as she stared out of the window at the traffic on the roads, the cars speeding past them. He leant over and kissed the side of her head, the strawberry-scented blonde locks tickling his nose; she didn't turn back but he saw her smile. The rest of the journey to the airport was uneventful. Over the hum of the radio, the driver attempted to talk to Kelly but her muted responses meant he had to move on to Justin, who responded, trying to keep the mood up.

Eventually, they reached the airport and walked through in a companionable silence, his hand wrapped around hers. The voice on the intercom announced his departure as they arrived at the gate and Kelly allowed Justin to pull her into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder as he rested his chin on top of her head.

After a moment or so, he tipped her head up, expecting to see her teary-eyed but instead, she looked back at him with a warm smile. "I'll miss you." For a moment, he just looked at her, taking in everything. To anyone else, she was just a beautiful blonde in jeans and a men's grey zip-up sweatshirt but to him, she was the girl he'd spent most of his life loving and he hated having to leave her again.

"I'll miss you too." He kissed the top of her head, before touching his lips to hers, wanting to savour the taste of her chapstick. After a couple more kisses, he pulled away, smiling as he tucked her blonde hair behind her ears. "Love you."

"I love you too." She smiled back, reminding him to call her when he landed, just as the voice on the intercom announced '..._the final boarding call for flight 221, leaving for Los Angeles...'_

"As soon as I land." He winked and headed towards the terminal, ready to board, only turning back once to wave at his girlfriend, who waved back, still keeping the smile spread across her lips.

She watched as he handed the stewardess his flight information, before disappearing into the tunnel. Once the final passenger boarded and the gate was closed, Kelly turned around and began walking back outside. Families, couples and lone travellers buzzed around her but she walked at her own slow pace.

It hadn't quite sunk in yet that Justin was leaving for four months. Her boyfriend had assumed that she was sad but it didn't seem real; as if she'd get home and he'd be there, sat on the couch with a beer and waiting for her with a kiss and a charming smile. Instead, he was on a flight to Los Angeles with his iPod for company. She wished that Tiffany, who'd been staying with them the past couple of days, would still be at the house so they could have a girls night in, but instead her teacher friend had texted her earlier that day, informing her she and Drew had made up and she was going home.

Speaking of text messages, as she slipped into one of the nearest cabs, Kelly heard her phone beeping in her denim pocket and when she pulled it out, she had a text from Cody.

_Mickie's working the night shift & I jst ordered a pizza – come over x_

Soon enough, Justin's departure would sink in and she'd have to come to terms with that but until then, she was happy to eat pizza and put it at the back of her mind.

_I'm on my way! Xx_

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Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Both Kelly and Maryse receive some news._


	20. What I Meant To Say

Hiiiiiiyaaaaaaaaa :) Thanks for all the reviews - here's chapter 20...

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**WHAT I MEANT TO SAY**

There were much worse things to wake up to than a pair of lips trailing down the column of your throat and the blanket being pulled warmly around your frame, Tiffany thought to herself as she slowly opened her eyes, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Good morning." Drew whispered to her, slipping an arm underneath her back.

"It certainly is." She agreed as her hands fell into his soft hair. "What did I do to deserve all this attention?"

"What? I can't help it that my. Fiancée. Is. Absolutely. Irresistible." Each word was punctuated by a kiss. "It can be difficult to keep my hands off of you."

She wasn't exactly going to complain as his kisses travelled along her collarbone and down her torso, a satisfied sigh and girly giggle both escaping her. Moments like this reminded her why she was still with him. When things in their relationship were going well, they were so wonderfully simple – she only wished they could be like that all the time.

"Irresistible? Wow, I'm flattered." She rested her cheek against his hand as he tucked her hair behind her ear before getting out of bed and slipping into her flannel bathrobe. "But your irresistible girlfriend needs to have a shower because she is _very_ sweaty after last night."

"Need any company in there?" He laughed, still lying in bed.

"I think that would defeat the object of being _clean_." She teased as she disappeared into the bathroom. Once behind the closed door, however, a small sigh left her and it wasn't one of complete bliss this time.

When Tiffany got home from work the previous night, Drew was waiting for her and what ensued was a night of romance – just like she'd received every night for the past week since they reconciled. She'd got what she wanted and her body felt content because of it but inside, she didn't feel right. She felt conflicted. One half of her was happy that she was finally getting what she wanted from her husband and then the other half was still pining for Jay, wondering where he was, what he was doing and if she'd see him again.

"Grow up, Tiff." She told herself in the mirror, looking at her unmade-up face and messy hair. She looked like a little girl, in over her head. How had she gone from being the sensible, cautious one to the one hiding the big secret–

From the next room, she could hear her cell phone buzzing and beeping so she went out to retrieve it. Drew – who had the day off work – had fallen back to sleep, his face buried into the pillow and a light snoring snuffling underneath. She shook her head and laughed to herself, picking up her phone and opening her new text as she went back into the bathroom.

_Haven't seen you in a while – we need to meet up and talk. J x_

She didn't react for a moment, just reread the text as if trying to decipher some hidden meaning that wasn't there. Obviously he felt there was something they _needed_ to talk about, which there was. Was he going to tell her what happened was a mistake? He'd already said that he didn't regret it but perhaps with time, he'd changed his mind.

_OK. Can't come out this weekend but I leave work 4 every day this week so let me know a time and a place after that. T x_

The blonde left her phone on the bathroom counter next to the sink as she climbed into the shower, letting the hot water rush over her, hoping it would give her some miraculous idea of how to fix the debacle she was in. It didn't though, and whilst she washed all the strawberry shampoo out from her hair, scrubbing at her scalp, she heard her phone buzz again but she didn't jump for it, instead finishing up her shower and only checking it when she was out with a fluffy white towel wrapped around her.

_I have a bunch of late classes this week. Stop by the college Tuesday at 7pm when my Rossetti lecture finishes. You remember where my classroom is? X_

"I was thinking we could go out for breakfast." The bathroom door opened and Drew came in, obviously awake now and having slipped into a pair of boxers. "I went for a brunch meeting at _Piper's_ the other day and it was great – you'll really like it there."

"Sounds lovely. You can use the bathroom now." She let her fiancée kiss her softly on her lips before she slipped out into the bedroom and texted Jay back.

_Of course I remember x_

* * *

After throwing the biggest diva tantrum of her career so far, Maryse had left work much earlier than she usually would.

The 1960s themed photo shoot – the central feature of next month's edition – erupted into disaster when a shipment of Chanel dresses hadn't arrived from Paris – apparently they were still sat in Karl Lagerfeld's showroom. As if that wasn't bad enough, it didn't end there. It turned out the team had been given the wrong measurements for the model and therefore she couldn't squeeze her size 7 feet into any of the 4s they'd provided her. Oh, and then the model in question turned yellow and threw up over an Alberta Ferretti jumper due to a diabolical case of food poisoning.

This all tipped the fashion director over the edge. Both French curses and size four Jimmy Choos were thrown into the air before Dante was called onto the set and decided a 60s look wasn't what he wanted and the new shoot – with its new theme Studio 54 – would commence another day.

Hours had passed since the incident and Maryse was considerably calmer, thanks to a lavender-scented bath and a couple of glasses of wine, and she sat on the couch in the living room, laptop on her lap as she attempted to write out some chapters for her book whilst trying to win the bid for a pair of vintage platform wedges for the shoot.

The front door opened and she turned around to see Jack enter his house after a date. "How lucky am I? I spend the night with one beautiful woman and get to come home to another!" He kissed her on the cheek before heading into the kitchen.

Maryse adored Jack. The Swagger family was close to the Ouellet family and Maryse and Jack had grown up together – well, vacations were spent together as the Ouellets lived in Montreal and the Swaggers in Oklahoma. They'd lived in the same city for about three years but even as teenagers, whenever she needed him, he was there. When she arrived at his with a suitcase at 1am, telling him that she and Ted were having problems, he set up the guest room for her.

"How was your date?" She put down her laptop and followed him into the kitchen.

"Petite brunette, great figure, good personality; you probably would've had the house to yourself if it weren't her having an early start tomorrow morning." He got a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Personal trainer – hence the fantastic body. How's your day been?"

"Don't ask."

"That good, huh?"

"Stressful. I love my job but sometimes it's overwhelming."

"So if I tell you that Ted called here earlier, is that going to better or worsen your mood?"

"Ted called?" She hadn't spoken to her husband since their failed vacation a week ago, instead she chose to hide away at Jack's, hoping he wouldn't call her. Not because she didn't want to talk to him but because space was what they decided they needed from each other.

"Yeah, when I got in from work and was getting ready for my date. We had a little chat"

"What did he say?"

"He just wanted to know how you were." Jack shrugged out of his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. "I told him you were okay, you weren't angry with him but he should probably wait for you to get in touch with him because you're still in need of some space."

"Thanks." She was relieved it was Jack that answered the phone and not her; if it had been, she'd probably have either froze up or said something she'd regret.

"You miss him, don't you?" He wasn't stupid; he knew Maryse hated that she and Ted were struggling to sort out their marriage and all she wanted was to be back home with him. He also knew that staying away from him was probably the best thing because she needed her space.

"Of course I do. He's my husband."

"Well you guys will sort it out – I'm sure of it."

"Only time will tell, I guess."

Sensing Maryse didn't want to talk about it anymore, he stifled a yawn and said "I think I'm gonna hit the sack. You could probably do with getting some sleep."

"I have some writing to finish but I won't be too long."

"Alright." He gave her another kiss and a quick hug before disappearing down the hall to his room.

Resuming her spot on the couch, laptop once again perched between her legs, Maryse scraped her blonde hair back into a loose chignon and attempted to focus on explaining the many ways to wear a simple white shirt. The ideas were right there but she just couldn't get them down.

Her mind was on Ted.

Instead, she ended up going onto her photos, scrolling through the albums until she found 'Wedding' and let herself be taken back to the happiest day of her life.

* * *

Just as Dustin was about to leave work after a long day, he swung by his brother's office, knocking on the door and going inside to see Cody sat at his desk, looking tired out. "Burning the midnight oil?"

"Something like that." He replied, rubbing at his sleepy eyes – there was something on his mind and although this something wasn't his problem, it was weighing heavily on his shoulders. "I can't believe you guys didn't pick her – she was perfect for the part."

"Yeah, she was great and she's talented as hell but at the end of the day, there was someone better for the part."

"But–"

"You've never had a problem saying no to people before and if this were anyone else, you wouldn't give a damn. It's because it's _her_ and you're letting your personal feelings come before business." He reminded him. When his little brother didn't reply, he knew his point had been proven. "I've already given you my reasons and I'm ready to go home because I'm exhausted. See you in the morning."

Cody raised his hand in some sort of goodbye before letting his head fall onto the desk. Attempting to catch up on some paperwork was the plan but it wasn't exactly working; he could barely keep his eyes open. In need of a pick-me-up, he went into one of his desk drawers and found a packet of cigarettes, untouched for weeks. He didn't take them straight away but after a moment's thought, he shoved them into his pocket before exiting the office.

Just as he was about to take them out as he reached the door, the blonde girl sat in the waiting area caught his attention. "Kelly?"

She looked up at him and smiled "You said you were working late and I was passing through so I brought dinner." She held up a bag from the takeout round the corner. "Mexican. There was an offer on enchiladas... Sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, perfect time – I was just about to order something." He lied, pressing the box deeper into his pocket. "Come on through."

He led her into his office where he tried to subtly put the cigarettes back into the drawer they came from, before they sat down on the couch and took out the hot paper wrappers of food. Watching as she took a hearty bite of enchilada, there was something off about her behaviour; he'd noticed it when they were hanging out a couple of nights prior as well.

"So what've you been up to today?" He asked her.

"I worked the lunchtime shift at _Marcella's_ before going home to watch TV in my sweatpants, then I decided I should so something productive so I decided to visit you. All in all, a successful day."

"Isn't Justin around?"

She hesitated, putting down her enchilada and wiping her fingers on a napkin. "Justin's in Los Angeles."

"You didn't mention that."

"He's got work stuff over there – he's the face of the new Gillette razor so he's promoting that and his agent wants him to pick up some other work whilst he's there."

"I guess if it's going to help his career–"

"Absolutely, yeah, I'm... I'm happy for him." She didn't sound it, as she tripped over her words. "Speaking of careers, have you heard anything about the Of Mice and Men audition?"

This was definitely not the right time to tell her and when she asked, Cody's gut ached. Then again, he couldn't put it off now she'd brought it up. "I heard back today."

"Yeah? What did they say?"

"Unfortunately they're going to go with someone else."

Kelly's face dropped. She looked crushed but tried to mask it with an innocent shrug. "Hey, what can you do? You win some, you lose some."

"Dustin and Sharon liked you, they really did, but there was just someone they preferred. Someone with more–"

"–someone with more experience, I get it, but how am I meant to get experience if no one will give me a break?"

He thought saying that would reassure her but apparently it had the exact opposite effect.

"Sorry," she muttered, wiping her watery eyes with a clean napkin. "It's not your fault, I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm just stressed out."

"About work?"

"The lack of. And Justin being away in L.A."

"How long is he going to be gone for?"

"Could be up to four months – he couldn't give me an exact period of time, he just said it was a great opportunity for him and he had to take it."

"It _is_ a great opportunity." Cody agreed, handing her a fresh napkin to blub into; she was now into crying girl territory, an area he usually wasn't comfortable in. "Plus, you and Justin have been apart before so it's not exactly new."

"Yeah but we're older this time; it's different."

"Exactly – you're older, wiser, it should be easier."

"It's not though." She got up to throw the used napkins into the trash before sitting back down again. "The other night, I was lying in bed on my own and I started thinking; Justin and I have been together for what, ten years? We've lived together for five of those and since then, it's like we've...stopped."

"Stopped what?"

"Stopped looking to the future. I look at Tiffany; she's thriving in a job she loves and now she and Drew are back on track, they have a future. They're engaged, they want a family together and they talk about this stuff–"

"Have you talked to Justin about this? Told him what you want?"

"That's the thing, Code – I don't know what I want anymore."

"You don't need to know everything. Aren't surprises one of the coolest things about life?" Truthfully, Cody hated surprises but it was the kind of thing Kelly would want to hear. "When it comes to your career, don't let not getting one role get you down. It's not the end of the world, you'll get more gigs–"

"I know that–"

"And you say you don't know what you want? You want Justin, don't you?" Kelly nodded. "Well, for now...isn't that enough?"

She looked at him through shiny blue before bursting into tears again, no more napkins left so she had to use her shirt sleeve.

"Oh God, what did I say wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just an emotional wreck." She laughed through it before holding out her arms. "Come here." He held her for a little while, stroking her hair as she told him "I'm so happy you're back in my life."

Her perfume smelt of hibiscus and berries but she also smelt of the enchiladas she'd been eating. "Me too."

* * *

Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Ted and Cody talk love, whilst Tiffany pays Jay a visit. _


	21. Read All About It

Apologies for the long wait!  
A combination of school work and writers block meant I had zero inspiration for writing but I'm back and ready to update :)  
Hope you enjoy!

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**READ ALL ABOUT IT**

Maryse wasn't entirely sure what had happened. One minute she was staring at a blank computer screen, trying to write something down about appropriate yet sexy beachwear, the next she was aware of someone poking at her arm in a most irritating manner.

"Oww," she grumbled, slowly opening her eyes to see Jack stood above her. Still in the living room, she was lying back on the couch with a blanket thrown over her frame. "Did I fall asleep?"

"I guess so. When I left for my run at 6am, you had the laptop balanced on your lap and a little bit of drool on your lip. I was a gentleman and moved the computer and got you a blanket but I'm not touching your spit."

She glared at him, angrily wiping at her mouth. She didn't get to make a smart remark as her concentration was taken by an unfamiliar leggy female in a man's shirt appearing from Jack's bedroom and heading towards the kitchen. Neither of them said anything but the female stuck her head out the door a couple of seconds later to announce "You're out of orange juice."

"Friends with benefits." He shrugged once she was back in the kitchen. "You know how it is."

"Actually, I'm married so I don't know."

He smiled. "What time do you have to be in work?"

"Ten."

"Ooh, I'm not sure I even want to tell you what time it is."

She looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was half nine, forcing her to sprint into the bedroom she should have been sleeping in and proceeded to throw on the nearest clothes she could find, fix her hair and toss all her make-up into her handbag so she could do it when she arrived.

"_I've called a cab for you – it's waiting outside." _Jack's voice on the other side of the door told her.

"I love you and if you weren't like a brother to me, I'd probably marry you." She told him in passing, giving him a peck on the cheek before dashing out the front door and into the waiting cab. She directed the driver to the _M_ offices, trying to relax as the car hurtled off and she attempted to apply foundation as the car swayed in and out of traffic.

Things were falling apart. Organisation was usually Maryse's thing and yet she was apparently the kind of girl that falls asleep on the couch after a serious case of writers block. Wasn't it normally the women who were suffering in their personal lives that thrived in their careers? Practically every chick lit was about the wonder woman of the office that couldn't get it right in her love life. Apparently that wasn't the case for her because nothing seemed to be right for her – particularly the eyeliner she was trying to apply which had now created a jagged line through her eyebrow as the car drove over a hump.

Eventually she arrived outside the office, paid the driver and with her make-up shabbily applied, she scuttled inside and up to the restrooms so she could observe the damage. Other than a little bit of smudge eyeliner and a blob of lipstick on her front tooth, it wasn't too bad; all fixable. She hoped she'd be able to fix it quickly without anyone noticing but Alicia emerged from out of one of the cubicles, looking fresh as a daisy. "Good morning, Maryse."

"Good morning, Alicia."

The blonde's assistant appeared to do a double take when she saw her superior, taking a step back before she approached the sink to wash her hands. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm a little tired but other than that... I'm fine." What was Alicia talking about? Did the office know about what happened between her and Ted? That was the last thing she wanted – she was determined that her private life would stay private. "Why?"

"Well...you're wearing the same clothes as you were yesterday." In any other profession, this would be acceptable, but _M _magazine was one of the most well known fashion magazines in the country, so for the fashion director to be wearing a duplicate of the outfit from the previous day was unheard of.

Maryse looked at herself in the mirror and realised the ruched red pencil skirt, black heels and tank top were a duplicate of what she'd been wearing the previous day, the only difference being today's cropped leather jacket as opposed to yesterday's tailored blazer. It was made even more shameful because it was pointed out by her _assistant._ "I know," she attempted to lie seamlessly, "I was at a friend's last night so I couldn't change my clothes – I was planning on getting something out of the fashion cupboard – probably the Tory Burch high-waisted pants."

"Those are cute." Alicia agreed, following the blonde's story. "Anyway, I'm over in the beauty department today so I'll see you later."

"Sure." She waved her assistant away, going into one of the cubicles and sitting down on the closed lid with her head in her hands.

* * *

"_Turkey steaks, beer and out-of-date orange juice. You need to go grocery shopping. Badly."_

In response to his friend's call from the next room and the sound of someone rattling through the refrigerator, Ted replied "I haven't had the chance to go out," keeping his eyes on the TV screen.

"You're right. Too much football on TV, huh? And why bother buying groceries when you can order in?" Cody emerged from the kitchen and sat down on the couch, glancing over at the pile of takeout menus that lay on the coffee table. Knowing his friend was experiencing marital problems, he'd come to see Ted on his day off, however now he was here, he wasn't exactly sure of how he was supposed to cheer him up. They were best friends but at the end of the day, they were guys and emotional wasn't really their thing. "So how're you keeping up?" He eventually asked.

"I'm surviving. If I could have my way, Maryse would be home and everything would be fine but things weren't right and they need fixing. She and I both know having some time apart won't hurt us. So she packed a suitcase and she's staying elsewhere. You'd think I had the good side of the deal, getting to keep the house and everything, but honestly, being here alone is pretty depressing."

"You're welcome to my guest room if you ever need to get away."

"Thanks."

"So have you spoken to Maryse since she...?" Could he use the word 'left'? In his head, it sounded far too definite, so instead he let his voice trail away.

"Nope. I know that if I call her cell phone, she'll know it's me and she won't answer, but I kind of just want to know how she is... see if she's feeling as awful as I am. So I called Jack's home number–"

"Jack?"

"You know Jack. You met him at the wedding."

"Jack, as in Maryse's close friend who all women find handsome and charming?"

"Don't say it like that – nothing is going to happen there, believe me. If I were to have had any worries about that, I'd have had them long ago. They're like brother and sister. Anyway, I called Jack, secretly hoping Maryse would answer, but she didn't. Jack said that she wasn't angry but it's still too soon and I should probably wait for her to call me when she's ready."

"And when's that going to be?"

"Next week? Next month? Never?" Ted attempted to take it light-heartedly, laughing lightly and giving off a small shrug. "Just gotta take it one day at a time, I guess."

"I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

"Enough about my depressing marriage, anyway. What I want to know is what's going on between you and Kelly because every time I text you, you're with her."

"I don't know what you want to know – we're just friends."

"Okay, you can fool some people with that but this is me. I know how close you guys were in college – I know how much you cared, no _care_, about her – and feelings like that don't just go away. In fact, when she came back into your life, I bet those feelings just came rushing back."

"Whatever I felt about Kelly in college is history. She's still with Justin and I'm with Mickie now so there is nothing between us but friendship."

"Then why are you spending so much time together?"

"I'm helping her with work! Her agent's useless so I'm getting her some work through the agency. Because I'm her _friend _and I'm doing what a friend does."

"I just find it difficult to believe there's nothing more than friendship between you."

"Well–" He was stopped by his cell phone in his pocket ringing. He noticed the questioning look on his friend's face. "I ought to take this–"

"Do I even need to ask who that is?"

Cody rolled his eyes, going back into the kitchen. Ted could hear him talking to Kelly, a laugh escaping his friend after what he assumed was the blonde telling a joke or making a funny comment. Shaking his head, he turned back to the TV and put his feet up on the coffee table; it was possibly the first thing to genuinely make him smile since Maryse had left.

* * *

Being back on her old college campus was a slightly surreal experience for Tiffany. She remembered arriving as a freshman, suitcases in hand and starry eyed as she navigated her way to her dorm room, and this felt no different. It was early evening so the place seemed big and empty in the winter darkness, meaning she almost got lost on her way to Pelzer Hall, where she was meeting Jay.

She peered into a couple of the lecture halls through the glass window on the doors until she found the room he was in. It was a relatively small group of about twenty, all sat near the front of the room. Jay was stood at the head of the class and she could see he had a relaxed air about him as he flicked through his Robert Browning book and led the class discussion. After a moment, he caught her eye through the glass and signalled she come inside.

"I taught Tiff about five years ago." Before she knew it, he'd hauled her to the front of the room and she found herself blushing as twenty pairs of eyes fell onto her. "I think we did Browning back then, didn't we?"

"Porphryia's Lover, mostly." She confirmed. "And The Statue and The Bust, but I don't know if we ever finished it."

The class laughed at the literature joke, including Jay, who turned to address his students. "Let's finish up there, guys. Great work – I'll hand back your assignments next time and for those of you who haven't given me one, I expect it on my desk tomorrow morning at the very latest."

In a collective swoop, the class grabbed their bags and got to their feet, heading out of the room until only Jay and Tiffany were left. She watched as he gathered up his papers and shuffled through them, scribbling down a couple of notes on each. "Bear with me a sec," he told her.

"That's fine." It gave her a chance to look at him. How was it that he had gotten better with age? The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and the knot on his tie had been loosened before she arrived; back when she was a student, she remembered anytime the class would be having a great discussion, he'd loosen the tie, like an enthusiastic twitch. She also remembered thinking how she'd like to loosen that tie–

_Pull yourself together,_ she told herself, _you're an engaged woman, what are you doing here anyway? What are you hoping to get from this? You need to be focused on your fiancée and your marriage, not some college crush from the past–_

"Sorry about that." He leant back against the desk as she perched atop one of the tables. "I'm glad you came."

"I didn't think leaving things so open was a great idea."

"No, I guess not. What's going on with you and Drew? I'm assuming you're back home with him."

"We're trying to work through out problems – maybe even start on making some wedding plans." The enthusiasm was missing from her voice.

"You don't sound too excited."

"Considering the situation between us, I'm hardly going to be jumping for joy, am I?" Noticing the wounded look that took over Jay's face, she regretted her choice of words. "Crap, that was mean. I'm sorry; the last thing I wanted was to start a fight between us, really–"

"It's okay, Tiff, don't worry." He reassured her. "We're both in tough positions, it's bound to be stressful."

"Stressful doesn't cover it. I feel so guilty that I'm keeping this from Drew but at the same time, you're all I can think about...I've never had to deal with this before."

"Neither have I."

"I don't know how much longer I can lie to him."

"I know – Trish keeps talking about the wedding but I can't marry her when I'm holding back such a big secret. I've had nothing but doubts since then–"

"I think your doubts came way before you cheated on her."

"I could say the same about you."

Tiffany resisted smiling at him quick response, instead running a hand through her blonde hair. "I feel like I need some time to think. I don't want to rush into anything."

"Absolutely." He agreed. "Although I feel I should tell you that my mind's made up and I think you know where my feelings lie."

She didn't reply as her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her jacket pocket, quickly answering "Can I call you back in a minute, sweetie? I'm driving," before hanging up again.

"Drew?"

"I should go."

He wanted to say something but words seemed to fail him as she left him alone in the room with nothing but a stack of papers for company. His own cell phone sat in his trouser pocket and he pulled it out to send Trish a text. _Going out for a beer with some of the faculty – back later x_.

Truthfully, he wanted to sit alone in the darkest corner in the hope that something – anything – would take his mind off Tiffany.

* * *

Thank you for the reviews and I hope y'all review again :) x

**NEXT TIME – **_Maryse finds comfort in an unlikely pair of arms and a double date is set up, but who's going on it? _


	22. A Vulnerable Side

I'm aware how sucky I've been these past couple of months but a lot of things have gotten in the way and honestly, writing's been the last thing on my mind.  
On a couple of occasions, I even considered leaving the site but then I remembered how much I loved writing this story and decided to stick it out!  
Although I will admit this chapter is a bit crappy but it's just preparing for big events coming up so bear with me!  
Big love to all those who've continuously reviewed! Here's the next chapter...

* * *

**A VULNERABLE SIDE**

The room Kelly woke up to was unfamiliar to her for a moment; it was basic, cream walls, simple brown furniture and a bed at the centre which she lay in. When she remembered where she was, she smiled, getting out of bed and slipping on her jeans and t-shirt from the previous evening before heading out to the kitchen.

"Good morning." Wearing his trousers and shirt for work, Cody sipped from his cup of coffee. "Sleep well?"

"I did – much better than I have in awhile. Thanks for letting me stay over."

"Like I said last night, it's not a problem, you're welcome anytime." The bacon sizzled and he tipped it onto a plate. "Breakfast's up. Bacon?"

"Please."

"We also have coffee, orange juice, water–"

"OJ, everyday." She went into the fridge and poured herself a glass from the carton. Sitting down at the table, she chewed on a piece of bacon and smiled up at him. "Perfect. Has Mickie left for work?"

"You obviously slept well if you didn't hear her leaving at six am."

Like she said, she'd had a very good night's sleep. Since Justin had left for L.A, sleeping alone in the apartment had simply made her miss him even more; a reminder he was gone. She'd spent the previous night hanging out with Cody and Mickie and as she was about to call a cab, he offered her the guest room of his house because it was late. For more reasons than one, Kelly was grateful.

"What're your plans for the day?" She asked Cody, changing the topic.

"I'll be in the office until this evening; I've got some paperwork to finish up. What about you?"

"My shift at Marcella's starts at twelve so I'll be working until the early evening. Then I think Justin and I have a Skype session booked in."

"How're you holding up with him gone? I know you were finding it hard at first but you haven't said much since then."

"When I'm busy and my mind is elsewhere, it's fine, but I think it's hardest when I'm on my own around the apartment and it's night... that's when I'm aware that he's gone. I'm trying to get as many shifts as I can at the restaurant, not only for the money but for the distraction."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey don't apologise. You and Mickie have been so sweet, hanging out with me and letting me crash here last night. I should be saying sorry to you!"

"Why? I'm your friend, it's what I'm here for."

"Well I don't know what I'd have done without you. Normally I'd turn to Tiff but she's been really distant lately."

"How'd you mean?"

"Y'know, not texting as much or arranging to meet up. Although she and Drew were having some issues so she's probably just trying to prioritise that."

"If that's the case then I'm sure as soon as that's resolved, she'll be there for you again."

She looked up at the clock on the wall. "Do you need to be at work?"

"Looks like I do." He finished up his coffee and threw on his jacket. "You're okay to let yourself out, right? Hang around as long as you want and just close the door behind you when you leave."

"Got it."

He went out the front door, leaving Kelly to finish up breakfast in the kitchen. Once she was done, she put the empty plates and cups into the dishwasher and even tidied up the living room after the previous night, recycling the wine bottles and pizza boxes, thanking her lucky stars for having such a wonderful friend.

* * *

Eve looked up at the clock on her wall, down at the watch on her wrist and then at her phone; all three were perfectly in sync and all showed that Maryse was fifteen minutes late. Tardiness was an irritation to her, regardless of who it was, but when it came from her former best friend, it was even more infuriating. Finally, the office phone rang and Gail's voice was at the other end, "Eve, Maryse is here...and she's brought drinks."

"Drinks?"

The door opened and the flawless blonde entered with two coffee cups in hand, which she put down on Eve's desk before slipping her jacket off. "I know, I'm sorry I'm late, but I got held up–"

"Held up where? Starbucks?"

"No, at work," she laughed as if that were a ridiculous suggestion, "the drinks are an apology for being late."

_The drinks probably made you even more late, you ignorant idiot._ "Sit down, Maryse." The brunette said through gritted teeth.

"Jeez, I forgot how stressed you got when people are late."

She decided to ignore that last comment, letting it wash over her. "Please tell me you have your first chapter completed."

"About that... I'm going to need an extension."

"An extension? Are you kidding me?"

"I've had some stuff going on and I–"

"This isn't some high school book report. This is my job. I've worked with some of the top writers in the country and I haven't ever given any of them an 'extension' so what makes you think I'm going to cut you any slack?"

Maryse visibly swallowed. "Like I said, I've–"

"–had some stuff going on, yeah I got that. What 'stuff' was it, Maryse? Was there a sale at Prada that you had to get to? Did that cut into your writing time? Or let me guess, you had a manicure and you couldn't risk ruining it by typing on a keyboard–"

"It's not that–"

"You know what, I don't really care because I expected no less of you. Maybe you're not cut out to write a book – it cuts into your priorities, right? Priorities like shopping and expensive dinners with Ted–"

Eve wasn't entirely sure at what point the blonde had burst into tears but one minute she was attempting to protest and the next, she was in floods, crying across the desk from her. What was she meant to do? "I think Ted and I might be over." Maryse sobbed.

Now Eve really was speechless. When she last saw her former friend, she admitted things hadn't been peachy but couples had fights and usually got through it; she never expected them to be 'over'.

"We've been having some problems for a while, what with him wanting to start a family and me not being ready to do that yet. He took me on this wonderful vacation and I thought that would fix things because it was going so well but then we got into this huge fight and I left and I haven't been home since, nor have I spoken to him."

"Where've you been staying?"

"With Jack – you remember my friend Jack? Anyway, Ted called the other night when I was out and Jack told him I'd call him back when I'm ready but the truth is, I'm scared."

"Of calling him back?"

"Because," the blonde accepted the tissue that Eve handed to her, "thank you. Because I'm scared that if we talk, we'll fight again and then it'll be obvious that it's over between us. If we want different things, it spells out the end. Doesn't it?"

"Not necessarily." She replied hesitantly. She wasn't a relationship expert, by any means. "Obviously I don't know what you guys are like anymore but back in college, you were so in love. Literally, you adored each other. Surely that means more than whatever the future has in store. True love conquers all, and all that crap."

Maryse began crying again.

"Sorry, I'm not very good when it comes to matters of the heart."

"No, you're right. I'm just a wreck at the moment. I've been bottling this all up and it's finally coming out now – I'm so embarrassed."

If this were college, Eve would rush up to her friend and hold her, stroke her hair and tell her it would be alright. She thought she might get sentimental for a moment but before that could happen, she composed herself and said "You know what you're going to do? First, you're going to go to the bathroom and sort your face out because not even you can work the panda look. Second, you're going to sort your priorities like I said before. And you know what your number one priority is? Ted. And thirdly, you're going to get me that first chapter by the end of the week. No excuses."

"I thought you didn't give extensions."

"I guess I'm making an exception."

* * *

"That is one hot chick you've got working on reception."As the two guys made their way into the bar of the Monty Garrett Hotel, Alex couldn't help observe the eye candy at the front desk, regardless of his relationship status. He was still a man at the end of the day.

"I don't know how happy Eve would be if she heard you talking like that." Mike chuckled as they sat down at a table in the corner.

"Just because I'm seeing someone doesn't mean I've lost the ability to notice other beautiful females."

"Speaking of which, where is Ms Torres tonight?"

"She called and said something came up at work so she would be working late." Alex thanked the barman who brought him over a beer. "Do all your staff do stuff for you without you asking?"

"It's called keeping the boss happy." Mike smirked. "Staying on my good side."

"Well you are a prick when you're grumpy."

"So back to Eve, when're you next seeing her?"

"Tomorrow night, but I actually meant to tell you. We've got a table booked at JKC this weekend because Eve's friends were supposed to be coming into town from Denver–"

"Not bad, JKC is a fancy place."

"I know – getting a table there was harder than finding water in the desert. So we have this table for four booked then it turns out her friends aren't coming because they broke up last weekend. He was cheating on her with her best friend, which kind of sucks. But I don't want to cancel the table because you know how difficult it is to book somewhere like JKC so Eve asked if I had two friends that might want to join us. You fancy bringing a date along?"

"You want us to double date?"

"Don't make it sound so juvenile." Alex laughed. "Come on, good food, good company, a couple of pretty ladies, depending on who you decide to bring. What do you say?"

Clearly Alex had not told Eve he intended on bringing Mike because she would not be happy if she knew. On the other hand, he could spend an evening irritating the brunette by inviting an attractive female to join them. It was win-win for Mike. "I'm in."

"Sweet – who're you going to bring?"

That was a good point; Mike hadn't been seeing anyone recently, it seemed his mind had been elsewhere, so he needed to find himself a lady. One he knew wouldn't take herself or the date itself too seriously. There was the leggy blonde from his gym who always smiled at him, or the cute Asian girl who bartended at his favourite nightclub in the village. Or...

"Follow me." Mike got up and headed to the reception desk with Alex on his tail. "Kaitlyn."

The receptionist looked up from her computer; pouty pink lips and a lot of cleavage on show instantly meant she was a winner. "Ever heard of sexual harassment in the work place?" She quipped, aware of where the two men were staring.

"Don't pretend you don't enjoy the attention."

She paused. "You're right, I do. What can I do for you boys?"

"Cancel all plans for this weekend. You're coming for dinner with myself, my friend Alex over here and his girlfriend Eve."

For a moment, she looked at the pair questioningly, her eyebrow arched; he'd shot her down before so why was he asking her out now? "A girl's got to eat, I guess. Let me know the details and I'm there." Alex scribbled down the information on a piece of hotel-branded paper. "Ooh, JKC, fancy. I used to date the sous chef there."

"Is there anyone you didn't used to date?"

Kaitlyn thought for a second before pointing at Alex. "Him. But you're next, Mizanin. See you this weekend."

* * *

Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Tiffany and Kelly go out for lunch, whilst Mickie gets suspicious of her boyfriend. _


	23. Possibilities

Apologies for recent delays - apparently I just don't have free time anymore... :/  
On a positive note, it shouldn't be so long a wait for chapter 24 because it's already half complete!  
Also, I was wondering if any other writers were finding that people aren't reviewing as much any more? I've gone from about 8/10 reviews per chapter down to about 4. If I didn't have a heart of stone, such a thing might cause me great distress!

Anyway, on with chapter 23 :)

* * *

**POSSIBILITIES**

"I've gotta say, if you weren't here, I would be completely lost." Shopping was definitely not Alex's favourite pastime and as he handed the girl behind the cash register his credit card and the earrings that Gail had picked out, he was thankful his friend was there to assist him.

"Not a problem. Matchmaker, personal shopper; all services are available to my friends." Whilst shopping may have been Alex's nightmare, it was Gail's dream and she was more than happy to spend her day off helping him to pick out birthday presents for Eve.

"You really think she's going to like them?"

"Trust me, I know her taste. Although I have to ask, why are you getting her presents so early? Her birthday's not for another month or two."

"Because when it comes to buying presents, I'm terrible. If I don't buy my gifts early, she'll end up receiving gas station flowers and a Snickers bar."

"Wise move coming to me then. Particularly because she doesn't like Snickers. She does, however, love this store and I saw her eyeing up these earrings the last time we were here." They both thanked the cashier and headed outside "Now we've got the jewellery sorted. You'll have to get her some flowers nearer the time... what else is there to get? Oh, chocolates! There is a gorgeous little shop in the village that does the best hand-crafted truffles–"

"Whilst we're on the topic of food, maybe we could take a shopping break and grab something to eat?"

"I think that's the best idea you've had all day." The pair took a short walk to a nearby cafe, where they were sat at a table by the window, with a great view of the street outside and two pretty blondes – who Gail recognised from somewhere but she wasn't sure where – on the table next to them. Noticing Alex's view slip over to the nearby females, Gail snapped her fingers in front of him. "Stop staring!"

"Sorry!" He laughed, focusing on Gail again. "I'm starving. Speaking of food, did I tell you that Eve and I have a table booked at JKC this weekend?"

"I went there a couple of weeks ago – the food is amazing and the atmosphere is so romantic. She'll love it."

"Well I'm not sure it'll be _that _romantic, seeing as we're going with Mike."

"Mike? As in your roommate Mike? Won't he be a bit of a third wheel?"

"He's bringing someone."

"You're going on a double date? Isn't that cute!" She noticed the mock-anger on his face and chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm kidding. Group dates can be fun."

"That's what I thought but I'm starting to get the feeling that Eve doesn't actually like Mike. Every time she sees him, there's this weird atmosphere and I can't work out why."

_Mike and Eve, Mike and Eve... why does that seem so familiar_, Gail thought to herself as Alex spoke. Then it hit her. "I think I've met your roommate Mike."

"Really?"

"In Eve's office. This guy called Mike came by the Salt House a couple of weeks ago unannounced. He went inside for about five minutes and I don't know what happened while they were in there but when he left, she seemed pretty frustrated. Like you said, there was a weird atmosphere."

"You're sure it was Mike?"

"He was a good looking guy, about six two, dark hair with a bit too much gel in for my liking–"

"Yeah, that sounds like him." He poured them both two glasses of water from the jug on the table. "That's really strange. I don't understand why she doesn't like him – maybe he did something to her in college–"

"Wait, they were in college together? I know she went to college with someone called Mike but she never talked about him much and when he came by and I asked who he was, she didn't mention that. Whenever she spoke about him in college, it was talking about how irritating he was."

"Did she ever say why he annoyed her?"

"No, she just said that he was conceited, arrogant, all that stuff."

"Sounds like Mike." Alex grinned, turning to the waiter who had approached the table. "We'll both have the chicken divan, thanks."

"Ordering for me?"

"I came here the other week and had a great meal. Plus, we eat out enough that I have a fair idea of what you'll like. Anyway, we've spent enough time talking about me. What's going on with you?"

"Not an awful lot."

"What happened with that Daniel guy?"

"Let's just say that one didn't work out and he's now with someone younger and slimmer." Taking a sip of her drink, Gail was calm and composed about being traded in for a younger model. Although she and Daniel hadn't been serious, it certainly irritated her but she was over it now. "She's called AJ."

"Sounds like a girl scout."

"She looks like one too."

They laughed together, bringing a smile to her face. "Maybe I could set you up with someone." Alex suggested. "Remember that time you came by my office? All the guys were saying how they'd love to take you out and I'd happily return the favour after you set me up with Eve–"

"Maybe another time. For now, you can leave the matchmaking to me because I'm happy to be single for a while. I'm actually looking forward to spending my Saturday night eating takeout pizza and watching a couple of bad Katherine Heigl movies in my sweatpants."

"Sounds like we're both going to have fun this weekend."

"I'll drink to that!"

* * *

"Are you ladies ready to order?"

"I think we are." Tiffany looked over the menu; she could've eaten a horse with how hungry she was. "I'm gonna go for the gnocchi with mushroom, bacon and poached egg. What about you, Kells?"

"It all looks so good – I'll have the wild rocket salad topped with mustard and sugar-crusted salmon. I've been eating most of my meals at the restaurant and all the Italian food is doing my waistline no favours. I'll be sticking to salads for a while!" Once the waiter had disappeared, Kelly reached across the table and squeezed one of her friend's hands. "It's so good to see you. I feel like we haven't properly spoken in months."

"I know, but I'm all ears now." Tiffany had the day of work when a pipe had burst at school so she'd called her best friend and arranged a lunch date so they could catch up. "How've you been, what with Justin in California?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I hate him not being around but I'm getting by."

"I'm sorry I've been so crappy, sweetie." She frowned at her fellow blonde, instantly feeling guilty that in amongst all her own problems, she had forgotten that her best friend was going through just as much. "From now on, if ever you want to talk about it, you call me straight away and I will drop whatever I'm doing to be there for you."

"You'll come to regret saying that," Kelly took a sip of her Diet Coke and chuckled. "Anyway, I wanted to know what's been going on with Drew – last I knew, you were sleeping on my couch practically hiding away from him. I'm assuming things are better between you now?"

"Much better. He's not working quite as much so I'm seeing a lot more of him and we're even talking about the wedding now, getting some ideas together."

"Well, speaking as your maid of honour, I approve. So if wedding plans are beginning, does this mean we can talk dresses?"

Tiffany smiled and nodded as Kelly began chatting away about dress lengths and colours. It was about ten seconds before she found herself tuning out. The truth was, talking about her impending wedding scared her; for so long, she had wanted Drew to be enthusiastic about their nuptials but now he was, she hated the sinking feeling that weighed down her stomach. And it was all because of Jay.

In the past, she thought cheating was black and white; wrong, no matter how you looked at it. She never wanted to be the other woman and she certainly hated the idea of being cheated on by someone she was in love with but she never imagined she would be the unfaithful one that slept with another man. Infidelity was wrong, full stop, wasn't it?

Well, what about when you think you're falling in love with the man you cheated with? What if you've been in love with him for years and never fully been able to move on from it?

She politely smiled at Kelly who continued talking oblivious to the fact Tiffany wasn't really listening. She needed to tell someone, keeping this bottled up wasn't doing her any good. Someone else's advice was what she needed, and she thought there was surely no-one better than her best friend.

"Kells, I need to talk to you about something."

"Sounds serious. What's up?"

"I've been keeping something secret for a while and I'm starting to feel like if I don't get it off my chest, I'm going to scream."

"Tiff, you're scaring me now." Kelly laughed nervously, taking her fellow blonde's hand across the table. "I'm your best friend. You know you can tell me anything. Now what's this about?"

"It's about–"

"Jay?"

"What? How did you–"

"No, look, it's Mr Reso. From college."

They both turned to the cafe entrance where Jay had entered. He was with a couple around his age, a redheaded female and a male with shaggy blonde hair. Tiffany thought she might be having heart palpitations, particularly when he caught her eye and headed over to their table.

"Just thought I'd come over and say hi," he approached the blondes with an easy smile, as if he didn't have a care in the world, "how're you both doing?"

"Really good, thank you," Tiffany was grateful that Kelly was naturally the more talkative of the two, because the actress' chattiness meant she barely had to utter a word. "Just out having a girly lunch, catching up."

"Yeah, I'm having lunch with my friends, Amy and Adam." He signalled over to where his friends were finding a table, both of whom shot over a polite wave when they saw there were stares in their direction. Turning to Tiffany, Jay asked "how's Drew?"

"He's fine, thank you. And Trish?"

"She's great – teaching one of her classes, otherwise she'd be here and you could've met her."

"Oh, that's right, you guys saw each other on the night of the reunion so you caught up then." Kelly nodded knowingly.

"Yeah, the reunion." Tiffany confirmed, not looking at Jay. _And all those times after._

"I should probably go back to my friends." Jay said as the waiter brought over the girls food. "But it was nice to see you guys. Maybe we'll bump into each other again some time."

"Maybe."

Jay left and the girls began eating their food. "Mmm, delicious." Kelly took a bite of her salad and said "You know, I've completely forgotten what we were talking about before he came over."

"Me too." Tiffany lied, her gaze darting across the room to where the trio were sat.

"Now is it just me, or has Mr Reso gotten hotter with age?"

Maybe cheating wasn't black and white; Tiffany felt horrible and she couldn't tell if it was because she was lying to the people she loved most or because she was lying to herself.

* * *

"I have just delivered triplets and I'm officially exhausted."

Looking up from her magazine, Mickie saw her friend and hospital midwife Maria enter the nurse's lounge. "You'll have to let me know your secret because I didn't even think you were showing."

Maria smiled at the brunette's joke, slumping down on the seat next to her and tugging her mane of red hair out of the tight bun it had been pulled into. She gestured up at the clock on the wall, "Assisting childbirth is always so much more tiring when it's in the middle of the night."

"I know, I still have three hours left of my shift."

"I have two but I want to go home now. And if I can't have that, I want a cigarette break."

"But you've been doing so well! How long's it been?"

"Eight weeks since my last cigarette and not getting any easier. Instead, I've become reliant on coffee." She headed over to the kettle. "Shall I make you a cup?"

"You're amazing, you know that?" Mickie smiled sweetly.

"Of course I do. What are your hours are you working tomorrow?"

"Surprisingly, I have the day off. I can't even remember the last time I had a day off."

"I think mine was around the last time I had a cigarette," she laughed, grabbing two mugs from out of the cupboard. "Got anything planned for your sacred day off?"

"I'll probably see if Cody wants to do anything. We haven't been together properly in such a long time."

"You were with him the other night, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but Kelly was there."

"Kelly?" Maria's head turned towards Mickie, her eyebrow rose as high as her suspicions. "Who's Kelly?"

"She's old friend of Cody's from college. They had a reunion recently and since then, they've been spending some time together."

"Is she good looking?"

"She's an actress so yeah, she's gorgeous. She's slim, blonde, has perfect white teeth–"

"So let me get this straight, your boyfriend – who, by the way, took _way_ too long to actually commit to you in the first place – is spending time with his gorgeous actress friend from college and you're okay with it?" Maria had always loved playing psychologist when it came to Mickie's relationships. "Did they ever date?"

"No, they were only ever friends and she has a boyfriend who's in LA at the moment–"

"Do you not find it a little weird that whilst her boyfriend's in LA, she's with _yours_? It sounds to me like she's lonely and looking for comfort elsewhere. I mean, if that were me, I wouldn't be happy."

"I've hung out with her too. She's a nice girl–"

"I'm sure she is," Maria didn't sound convinced, "but are you not the slightest bit suspicious that they're hanging out together when you're not around? Does it not concern you that you don't know what's going on when it's just the two of them?"

After a short pause, Mickie sighed and answered, "Okay, so maybe it concerns me a _little_ bit–"

The beeper in the redhead's pocket was set off and Maria dug it out to see what was going on. "For fucks sake, what does a girl have to do to get a break around here? Looks like I'll be spending my 'break' filling out paperwork." She grabbed her coffee mug and headed to the door. Noticing the sad look on her friend's face, she said "Hey, I didn't want to worry you, I just think you should keep an eye on this Kerry girl–"

"Kelly."

"Whatever. All I'm saying is if it were my boyfriend 'reconnecting with an attractive female friend, I'd let this girl know who's boss." And with that, she disappeared back outside, leaving Mickie to think about what she said.

Every single point Maria raised was something the brunette had previously tried not to worry about. Yes, it had taken Cody far too long to commit to her fully and now he was spending all his time with his attractive former friend. How could she not worry about that?

For now, she'd let it go and see what happened but if things kept going the way they were, Mickie was going to have to speak up.

* * *

Please review! xx

**NEXT TIME – **_A surprise visitor pays Ted a visit and date night ends on a surprising admission_


	24. Pushing the Limits

Horrible updater - I know! I'm busy with exams at school so I'm not going to make promises of quick updates but they will come!  
Thank you to all those that review - you are all amazing!  
Here's chapter 24 :)

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**PUSHING THE LIMITS**

Initially, Tiffany thought Kelly's suggestion of a Saturday morning yoga class sounded like a great idea. Drew never got out of bed until lunchtime on weekends so getting to spend time with her best friend whilst taking part in a non-vigorous exercise sounded like a great idea. She was excited to sign up.

Unfortunately, when the two arrived at the gym and Tiffany saw that the woman in charge was Jay's fiancée Trish, stretching out her limbs and gossiping with Kelly was the last thing on her mind.

"If doing yoga means I get a body like hers," her fellow blonde pointed to the instructor as they unrolled their mats, "then we are definitely signing up for extra classes."

"I don't know about that." Tiffany laughed nervously. She was desperately trying to avoid making eye contact, however she couldn't help but steal glances as the brunette limbered up at the front of the room.

"Come on, think of this as...wedding boot camp, whipping you into shape so when Drew rips that white dress off you, his jaw hits the floor of the honeymoon suite." She didn't response as Trish directed their attention over to her and the class began.

After an hour of 'feeling the burn' and having her limbs stretched in ways they should never have been, Tiffany had to wonder if Trish secretly wanted to subject the blonde to an hour of slow and painful torture. Maybe she knew the truth, Tiffany couldn't help but smile to herself. Kelly, who was a teenage gymnast, had no problem with all the bending and twisting but Tiffany wasn't feeling quite as nimble.

"Great class today guys." Finally it ended and Trish got to her feet to compliment the group. "Some of you are already making great progress and it won't be long before you'll have your legs behind your head with the greatest of ease."

The class laughed and clapped before people began filing out of the studio. Tiffany wanted to roll up her mat and scurry away as quickly as possible but Kelly seemed to have other ideas. "That was an excellent class." Looking over, her friend was chatting away to Trish. "I never knew how challenging yoga could be."

"Well, you looked as though you were more than capable. Hang on a second," Whilst she spoke to Kelly, Trish's attention seemed elsewhere, "Hey!" and when Tiffany looked up from rolling her mat, the brunette was staring directly at her. "You look familiar. Have you been in one of my classes before?"

For a moment, the blonde considered telling Trish that yes, that was obviously where she knew her from, but then she would receive an inquisition from Kelly. She also considered saying no, they hadn't met before but then she wondered what would happen if Trish suddenly remembered. It seemed in this case, honesty was the best policy. "Actually no, I know your fiancée–"

"Oh, that's right, we met at dinner." The light bulb flicked on above Trish's head. "You're one of his ex students, I completely forgot. Sorry, obviously the brown hair dye doesn't cover up the blonde moments."

"It's fine."

"You were with your fiancée too. Wasn't he...Irish?"

"Scottish, actually." Tiffany corrected, turning to Kelly who looked completely lost in their conversation. "Trish is Jay, I mean, Mr Reso's fiancée. Drew and I ran into them at dinner a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh, so were you one of Jay's students too?"

"No, but I went to college with Tiffany so I knew of him. Actually, we ran into him the other day when we were having lunch at The Green Room, didn't we Tiff? He was having lunch with–"

"A couple of our friends, Amy and Adam. I would have been there but I was teaching. Speaking of which," the previously empty studio was beginning to refill with bodies and yoga mats, "I have another class to teach."

"Well, thanks again for the class."

"No problem, I hope to see you both again next Saturday. And I'll be sure to tell Jay that I ran into you."

The two blondes left the studio and headed onto the street outside, where Kelly announced, "Mr Reso did a good job hooking up with her – she's gorgeous. And she's super nice, isn't she?"

"She is." Tiffany agreed. Which made her feel even worse.

* * *

From the moment Eve met Kaitlyn, she could tell they were never going to be the best of friends. And it wasn't just because she was Mike's date.

The new pair may have been looking extremely close but Eve refused to believe that he had genuine feelings for her – the only place Mike has feelings is in his pants, she thought to herself with a smirk – but when they arrived at the restaurant together, his hand against her hip as she laughed at something he said, she felt an unexplainable twinge in her stomach. _What are you doing, Eve? Why do you care who Mike dates? What you have with Alex is so much better than anything they have. _

She was polite and listened to what Kaitlyn had to say but honestly, they were very different people. Whilst Eve felt she had a more quiet sophistication, there was nothing quiet or sophisticated about Mike's date. There was the low-cut dress, the raucous laugh she let out whenever someone said something mildly amusing, what you saw was what you got with Kaitlyn and Eve wasn't sure of that was her thing.

"So Kaitlyn, how do you and Mike know each other?" She asked as the waiter took away the plates from their starters. At least the food was good.

"We work at the hotel together."

"It was my good looks and incredible charm that won her over. She couldn't resist me." Mike bragged, receiving loud laughs from Alex and Kaitlyn and utter silence from Eve.

"Great taste you've got there," Eve muttered under her breath, polishing off her drink. Catching the attention of the waiter, she held up her empty glass, "could I get another glass of red wine over here?"

"Careful Eve, at the speed you're going, you're going to need a trough in a minute."

"Are you calling me a pig?"

"Have you always worked in hotels, Kaitlyn?" Alex could sense the increasing tension at the table and deciding to take control of the conversation. He hadn't mentioned that he knew they had history together but since he found out, he couldn't ignore the bad vibes between them.

"Yeah, hotels and restaurants. Waitressing, reception work, I'm a people person so any time there's interaction with customers, I'm happy to get involved. Working at the Monty Garrett is great because the staff are great but so are the visitors – you get some real characters coming through..."

She continued to talk, but Eve stopped listening, finding her recently refilled glass of wine much more entertaining. She knew she was acting like a bitch but she was a grown woman and didn't want to be on a double date with Mike and whatever his catch of the week was. Instead she'd much rather have a night with Alex alone.

"I'm going to the bathroom." She announced, getting to her feet.

"I'll come with." Kaitlyn joined her and the two women headed towards the bathroom.

Initially, the pair applied their make-up in silence, however Eve decided that there was no point being intentionally rude. "So hey, you and Mike? You guys seem serious."

"You're kidding right?" The blonde laughed that raucous laugh that made Eve want to pull her hair out. "I don't think either of us are looking for a serious relationship. It's probably part of the reason we get along so well."

"Oh, so it's purely about..."

"Not _purely_ about sex...although that's probably the best part of it. I think we just enjoy hanging out together and if we both know each other's intentions, neither of us are going to get hurt. It's win-win, in my opinion."

"Is it an open relationship?"

"I'd barely class it as a relationship but yeah, I guess it's open. I mean, I don't plan on taking myself off the market and I don't think he does either." She slipped her lip gloss back into her clutch bag. "I need to pee – shall I meet you back at the table?"

"Sure." Eve walked back out to the restaurant area, the effects of too much wine and ridiculously high heels finally hitting her balance as she steadied herself. When she got to the table, she noticed her boyfriend was missing. "Where did Alex go?"

"He had a phone call so he went to take it outside." Mike replied, glancing across the table at Eve. "Where's my date? Don't tell me – you flushed her head down the toilet and stole her lunch money."

"What are you talking about? I find Kaitlyn...charming." She lied through her teeth.

"I never said you didn't, but that blatant lie you just told explains why you've been shooting her daggers all night and giving her the third degree."

"I have been doing no such thing, you're such a little sh–"

"So what I want to know," she was interrupted by Kaitlyn, who arrived back at the table, "is how the two of you know each other."

"What?"

"How do you guys know each other?"

"Through Alex." Eve seamlessly replied. "I'm Alex's girlfriend and Mike and Alex live together."

"Oh right. It just seemed like you guys knew each other from somewhere else–"

"What're we talking about?" It was Alex's turn to return to the table, kissing Eve on the cheek as he did so. He heard the end of the conversation and wondered if now would be the time to bring up that they knew each other.

"Nothing important – now when is this food going to arrive? I'm starving." Eve sank another glass of wine and glanced down at her watch.

* * *

Ted hadn't realised how late it had gotten. When he looked up from the paperwork he was battling through, his assistant Eden was stood in the doorway, her jacket on and bag in hand. He could swear the last time he paid attention, it was still light outside.

"It's getting late, I think I'm going to head home now." She told him. An architecture student at the college he used to attend, she worked in his office whenever she wasn't in class to gain more experience. Eden was a hard worker and he'd be sad to lose her when she moved to another firm at the end of the year to start work as a full-time architect.

"I hadn't even noticed," he peered down at his watch; it was nearing eleven pm. "Shouldn't you have headed off long ago?"

"My roommates were having a party but I have a paper to finish for tomorrow so I thought it would be easier to focus here. But I'm done now." She paused. "Shouldn't you be on your way home as well?"

"Soon. I just have to finish up a few of these contracts. Don't worry about me, I'll be on the couch with a beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other before you know it."

Eden chuckled softly. She looked as though she was about to turn to leave but something stopped her. "Maybe it's none of my business and I might be overstepping some professional line, but you seem as though you've been... I don't know, you haven't been yourself. I'm not saying you didn't work hard before but you never used to stay in your office alone until near midnight."

"I'm not alone." He smiled, dodging the subject.

This wasn't the first night he had stayed late, throwing himself into his work. Since Maryse left, he had passed through two stages; not leaving the house was the first and the second involved him hiding out in his office to avoid going home because he'd realised the more time he spent there, the more he thought of his wife. Work provided the perfect distraction.

"I know it's not my place to pry, I just... Never mind. Good night Ted."

"Good night, Eden. Enjoy the party." The door closed behind her with a gentle click and then he really was alone in his office. Around five minutes later, there was another knock at the door. Assuming Eden was back, he got to his feet to answer but instead of seeing the attractive student, he saw his father stood there. "Dad?" Ted was shocked, getting to his feet to give Ted Senior a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Well your mother's having her book club so I took it as a chance to come see some old friends in the city. And my son, of course. I thought I'd come by and surprise you and Maryse," he sat down on one of the chairs opposite his son. "I went by the house but nobody was there so I thought I'd come here."

"Well, you've found me."

"I certainly did. Burning the midnight oil?"

"Something like that. And how's mom? And Brett, Leah and the babies?"

"Your mom's fine. Brett and Leah are fine too – albeit a little tired. Turns out the boys are midnight screamers, just like the pair of you were." He stopped. "What about you, how're you doing?"

"I'm not too bad."

"And Maryse? Where's she tonight?"

He and his father had a close relationship and he saw no reason to lie to him; he was bound to find out sooner or later. "Honestly? I have no idea." Ted confessed.

No further explain was needed, as his father nodded knowingly, "Going through a rough patch?"

"Just a little."

"I sensed something was up when your mom and I came into town for dinner. Obviously she didn't notice because when she gets going, she's like a bull in a china shop. What's the real story?"

"Let's just say the older we get, the more we're starting to realise we want different things. Or really, we want the same things but we just don't want them at the same time."

"I have a feeling you're talking about having kids."

"Bingo."

"And I suppose your mother and I didn't really help things by going on about Brett and Leah and the twins?" Ted shook his head in response. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, we were having problems before anyway." In the past, he had never needed to turn to his father for problems with women, but now, he needed all the help he could get and his father's opinion seemed more valid than anyone else's. "I love her, Dad, that's not going to change, but is there any point if we want different things?"

His father sighed. "Do you want to make your marriage work?"

"She's the love of my life. Of course I want to make it work."

"Then you need to be honest with each other. I hate the thought of either of you being unhappy and I want the best for Maryse just as much as I want the best for you. She's a good girl and I know you two love each other." He glanced down at the photo of his son and daughter-in-law on the desk. Their wedding photo. "It might take time but you need to get the truth out in the open, whether it's good or bad. There's no point dragging out something that's just going to hurt you both in the long term."

"You think I should end it?"

"I'm not saying _that_. I want you to make this work, but sometimes you just have to let it go. But it's not my decision to make. It's your life and you need to decide what's right for you."

In some ways, Ted wished that his father or someone else could make this decision for him. It would take a weight off his shoulders.

"Come on, if you spend any longer in your office, you'll drive yourself insane. Let's go and get a beer."

* * *

It was rare that Mike would turn down a 'cup of coffee' after a date but when Kaitlyn invited him back to her apartment, he had to admit he was pretty beat and couldn't wait to get some sleep.

He let himself in to his house as quietly as possible so he didn't disturb Alex and Eve from their sleep – or whatever else they were doing. Once he was inside, however, he became aware of someone moving around in his kitchen. He followed the noise and found Eve, sat down at their kitchen table and drinking from a bottle of wine.

"Good evening," he said, amused. At the restaurant earlier, he could tell the brunette was drinking more than usual but now it appeared she was as drunk as a skunk.

"Shh," she held a finger to her lips. "Alex is asleep."

"Shouldn't you be too?" He grabbed a beer and sat down at the table opposite her.

"You know me, I'm as close to an insomniac as you can get."

Annoying Eve had always been one of Mike's favourite pastimes, however it seemed he had found the one thing that really irritated her; flaunting the women he was seeing in front of her. All night, her irritation with Kaitlyn had been clear as day; her refusal to laugh at her jokes, the eye rolls and excessive drinking. He had always teased Eve that she had a crush on him but he never really believed it; it was jest. Although that night, he started to wonder if he was onto something.

"Shouldn't you be with Kaitlyn?" She asked.

"I felt like an early night." He told her, sitting down at the table and pouring himself a glass from the bottle. "You really don't like her, do you?"

"Oh my God, I never said that–"

"You didn't have to."

Eve sighed, pouring yet another glass of wine. "She's so... I don't know, in my face. It's like, okay, I get it, you're an attractive female but you're easy as hell. Whatever. You're probably 'one of the boys', that's cool. You don't have to prove it to me by drinking beer and making annoying jokes."

Mike laughed as quietly as he could. "That's why you don't like her?"

"I never said I didn't like her!"

"See, I thought maybe you didn't like her because you were jealous."

She raised an eyebrow. "What? That's crazy."

"Is it?"

"Were you...?" She stopped laughing, opening her mouth to speak but closing it again.

"What?"

"Forget it."

"No, go on, say what you want to say."

"Were you trying to make me jealous?"

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. Did it work?"

She laughed again, muffling it with her hand to hide her smile. "I should go to bed." She ran a hand through her hair and got to her feet, steadying her balance on the table. It looked as though she might fall for a moment, so Mike got up and held her upright. He looked into her hazy eyes and she smiled again.

"I said, did it work?"

Another smile. She let herself out of his grip and just as she was heading for the door, she said, loud enough for him to hear "maybe it did."

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Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Drew gives Tiffany some life-changing news_


	25. Move Along

I come bearing a new chapter... ;) Enjoy!

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**MOVE ALONG**

"Maybe I'm just being picky but I honestly found YSL's new collection to be a little...predictable." Reclining back in her office chair, Maryse spoke into the phone, lazily examining a perfectly manicured nail. "It was _nice_ but wasn't masculine tailoring the key feature of last–"

Her call with the head buyer at Bendels was interrupted by a loud of ripple of laughter from outside the office. She had been aware of some commotion outside for a while but had ignored it; only now was it distracting her.

"Lisa, can I call you back in a couple of minutes? I have some important business to sort out. Merci."

Putting on her best HBIC scowl, the one that she knew terrified the life out of the young impressionable interns, the blonde put the phone down and strutted out of her office. She understood their excitement, after all, she used to be one of them, but when she was young, there were always women that terrified her and Maryse was pleased to take on that role.

"What's going on out here?"

The sea of girls parted and Rosa Mendes stood in the middle of them, beaming. Lifting her hand, she revealed one of the biggest diamond rings that Maryse had ever.

Rosa and Maryse had both started at _M_ around the same time and worked up the ladder together. Whilst the blonde tried not to have too many friends around the office, she considered Rosa closer than an acquaintance or colleague, which was more than she could say about most of her other co-workers. They came from different backgrounds – Maryse was a hard working college student who knew where she wanted to go in life whilst Rosa was a party girl with a big wardrobe – but their careers had moved in similar directions around the same time so she felt a mutual respect between the two.

"Oh my goodness, Alberto proposed?"

"At the weekend. It was our one year anniversary so he flew us out to Dubai. It was the most romantic weekend and then we were having dinner looking out on the ocean and he got down on one knee... It was so perfect, I burst into tears."

This didn't surprise Maryse much – after years of social climbing, Rosa had landed herself a multi-millionaire who practically grew money on trees. Regardless of this, on the few occasions she had seen them together, they appeared genuinely in love. "I'm so happy for you," Maryse told her truthfully, finding it impossible to tear her eyes away from the giant rock that kept catching the light.

"Have you started thinking about the wedding?" One of the other girls piped up.

"Next summer. I'm meeting with the wedding planner tomorrow and we're going to view The Plaza on Friday." There was a collective squeal from the girls. "We've only known each other for a year and it's quick, we know that, but it feels right." Rosa turned to Maryse, the only married woman there. "When you know, you know, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess you do." She replied quickly. "Maybe we should all be getting back to work?" The throng of girls disappeared back to their respective offices and desks, leaving just Maryse and the bride-to-be.

"I'm actually glad you sent them away because I wanted to talk to you. Alone. Alberto and I are having an engagement party – no date yet because I'll decide that with the wedding planner – and I told the other girls it was a family only thing because honestly, I imagine some of them will show up for one reason – looking for rich men–"

_Well, you'd know, _Maryse thought.

"–and I know you won't be like that. I mean, you're married after all. Anyway, I'd love it if you could come. And Ted. You are both cordially invited."

She froze. "Oh I don't know, Ted's very busy with work at the moment–"

"Come on, it'll be a fabulous night. In fact, it'll be a great chance for Ted to build up business contacts. Some of the wealthiest, most influential people in the city will be there and they're always looking for interior designers–"

"Ted's an architect."

"That's even better! They always want to make new offices, right? New offices mean new buildings which mean new architects... Just say you'll both be there? There's an open bar which will be stocked with champagne – how can you say no to that?"

Maryse laughed politely. It didn't seem there was any way to get out of it so the question was, how was she supposed to get her estranged husband to come to a party and pretend that nothing was wrong between them? If Maryse and Ted didn't attend together, Rosa would suspect something was wrong between the pair and she had a big mouth. Keeping up appearances was important in this environment.

But it was easier said than done; Maryse hadn't spoken to her husband in weeks and it didn't seem an option to just call him up and ask him to come with her. Then again, perhaps this party was what they needed to get them talking again. Anything that would break the silence between them.

She shrugged. "I guess we'll be there."

Now she had to get Ted onboard.

* * *

_I'm swinging by after work – I have big news! _

As she came through the front door, Kelly glanced briefly at the text Cody had sent her before she headed over to the couch and flopped face down on it. This day had gone on forever; Cody had set her up with four auditions and as if that wasn't draining enough, she had to fill in for someone else at _Marcella's _in the evening. Even worse, she had to deal with a table of businessmen, none of whom could be said to be acting professionally around the attractive waitress.

Clearing waitressing from her mind, she thought about the auditions. If she'd known how many TV connections Cody had, she would have begged him to be her agent back in college. Since leaving Vickie, she was going to way more casting calls and although they were small parts, it was paid acting work and she was meeting directors and other actors. Weren't connections supposed to be everything in this industry? It's not what you know, but who you know...

Almost two hours passed before Kelly woke up and glanced at the clock; she must've fallen asleep. The sound of her grumbling stomach made her aware of how hungry she was; she hadn't eaten since lunch because the restaurant was so packed, she had barely had time to think about taking a break. Another loud rumble from her stomach and she heaved herself up, loping to the kitchen area to find herself dinner. There was some pasta salad left over from the previous evening which she decided to tuck into, carrying the dish back to the couch.

Before she could take a bite, her cell phone buzzed against the coffee table. Assuming it was Cody letting her know he was on his way, she picked up the phone without even looking to see who was calling her "Yes?"

"_Kelly?"_

"Justin?" Suddenly wide awake at the sound of her boyfriend's voice, the blonde put the dish down and sat upright. "Is that you?"

"_Yeah, it's me. Did I catch you at a bad time?"_

"No, no, sorry I just fell asleep on the couch after work so I'm probably still half asleep. It's so good to hear from you – I miss you like crazy. Tell me all about L.A."

There was only a three hour time difference between them but their busy schedules meant they never found the time to talk anymore. With Kelly getting more work than usual, she was never around when Justin called her and when she tried to call him, he was on a shoot or at a party 'getting connected'.

"_It's fantastic out here, Kells, you'd love it. Especially the weather_."

"Don't make me jealous – the apartment has been freezing these past few days!" She giggled, curling up under the blanket they kept on the couch. "I guess you're insanely busy with work."

"_You bet. I've done all the Gillette shooting so now when I'm not promoting that, I'm sorting out other campaigns. I booked a Paco Rabane shoot for their new fragrance last week and I have an audition for G-Star tomorrow_."

"Wow, you really are getting a lot of attention." Although she was proud of him, she couldn't help but feel a little envious. Here she was, stuck in the rainy city, running from audition to audition before spending her evenings in a hot Italian restaurant and he was sunning himself in Los Angeles, having casting directors fawning over him. "So what time is it with you now? Eight pm? Ready for a quiet night in the hotel?"

"_Not quite. There's a Diesel show and my agent wants me to go along and 'mingle' with the creative team because they need a male face for their new campaign."_

There was a knock at the door and Kelly saw Cody's smiling face through the glass window. He made a 'can I come in?' gesture, to which she nodded.

"_Kelly, you still there?" _Justin asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"_You sound a bit distracted. Is everything alright_?"

"I'm fine – like I said, I'm just a little tired. It's been a long week."

"_Hang on a second,_" there was a pause as she heard a knock at his hotel room door, a sound of a conversation with another male and a loud ripple of laughter, "_tell you what – I'm about to go out so shall I call you tomorrow morning?_"

"I'd like that."

"_Okay, get a good night's sleep. Love you."_

"Love you too." She hung up and tossed the phone back onto the table, before picking up the dish of pasta as Cody came and sat down next to her with a beer he'd grabbed from her fridge. Nice to see he was making himself at home, she thought with a smile.

"Was that Justin?" She nodded. "How is he?"

"He's good. Got campaigns pouring out of his ears by the sounds of things."

"I'm not surprised. He's got that commercial look that the LA fashion types would love." Noticing the sad look on the blonde's face, he nudged her lightly. "Hey, you okay?"

"I dunno... Maybe I'm jealous of the success he seems to be having. Of course I'm happy for him – he's worked just as hard as I have – but since he's gone to LA, he's having all the luck in the world and I'm not. I mean, what's to stop me packing up and going to California?"

"Wait, so you don't think that getting a recurring role in season two of _Smash_ is making it?"

It took Kelly a moment to process what Cody had said to her. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"The guy from the _Boardwalk Empire_ audition didn't think you were right for the part but he also works for _Smash_ and they have a role next season which he thinks you'll be perfect for. The part's this small town girl who moves to New York, yadda yadda yadda, you know the rest. You'll be in about six episodes next season, maybe more if they like you.."

"That's incredible!" She leapt forward, throwing her arms around Cody. "My God, this is the break I've been waiting for! Is it a sure thing or not?"

"Joel needs to talk it over with the producers but he's the top guy – they aren't going to go against him. You've got this, Kell. This is the beginning of something big for you."

"I can't believe it," she was speechless. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Well, you could say thank you Cody. And you could take me out and buy me a drink because you don't have very good beer in your house."

She rolled her eyes, getting to her feet and grabbing her jacket. "Come on, let's go get drunk." Just before they left, she stopped him at the door, "and in case I'm too wasted for you to take me serious when I say this later – thank you. For everything."

* * *

Tiffany had always found that after a long day of hard work, there was nothing more rewarding than coming home, kicking off her shoes and pouring herself a glass of chilled white wine.

When she got home that night, however, she was pleasantly surprised to find that for once, her fiancée was home before she was. A forgotten Otis Redding CD was playing quietly on the speakers, the living room was dimly lit by dozens of candles and there was a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne chilling inside, waiting for her on the coffee table. She hadn't had a surprise this romantic since her proposal so what was all this for? And where on earth did he find that CD?

Drew came out from the kitchen to greet Tiffany, with a kiss on the lips. "Good evening, beautiful."

"What is all this?"

"Can't a man treat his future wife like princess once in a while?"

"I'm not complaining, I'm just taken aback by how...surprising and lovely this all is." She kissed him again. "What's going on?"

"I'm glad you like it. I set it up because I have something important to tell you and I wanted to make it memorable."

"You do? Is this something good or bad?"

"I like to think it's good." He smiled secretively.

"Well, can I quickly freshen up first?"

"That's fine, do whatever you need to do. No rush."

"I won't be long, I promise." The blonde dashed up the stairs, stripping off her clothes as she went, before jumping into the shower. Once clean, she slipped into a clean dress, dried her hair before scraping it up loosely and dabbing on a little lipstick and some mascara.

"I think, if it's possible, you get more and more stunning every day." When Tiffany came down the stairs, Drew was waiting for her. He held out his hand and led her into the living room, sitting her down on the couch next to him.

"That's very sweet of you to say," she smiled, watching as he poured two flutes of champagne. She honestly had no idea what this news was – she was intrigued. "So what is this big news you have to tell me?"

"Okay," he began, "as you know, I've been spending a lot of time at the office and I've been working extremely hard but it's all for a good reason. I've been in the pipeline for a big promotion, and when I say big promotion, I mean _big. _I'm the youngest guy in the fold so I've had to prove myself."

"Well, that sounds fantastic. Have you heard anything?"

"Yeah, they got back to me today."

"And?"

"I got the job."

"That's amazing!" She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek and gave him a hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"It's amazing. Not only is it more money, but because it involves me acting in a more senior position, it means I won't be working as many hours and we have time to focus on our future together; our wedding and whatever comes after that for us."

"I'm speechless. This is amazing." It _was_ amazing; all the things she wanted to happen with Drew were finally happening. He was becoming the man she fell in love with and wanted to spend her life with.

"There's just one catch that you need to be aware of."

"What's that?"

"The job is in Glasgow."

She almost spat out her champagne, before lifting her hand up to cover her mouth. "Glasgow?"

"Yes. I'll basically be running the office over there and if I take the job, we'll need to move over there as soon as possible. Whilst we look for a house, work will set us up with a temporary apartment in the city and we can–"

"Drew, slow down, this is a lot to take in. Just give me a second... Glasgow, as in, Scotland?"

"I know it's going to be a big change–"

"Big change is an understatement. My whole life is here; my job, my friends, my family–" _Jay_.

"You'll find a new job. Or you know, I'll be earning enough that you can take a break from teaching and focus on your writing – I know you've always wanted to have the time to do that and maybe this is the chance for you to–"

"Okay, the job I can get over but what about the people in my life? What about my parents? And my friends, I've got Kelly and–" _Jay._

"Like I said, I know it's a big change but when I came to New York, you were the only person I knew. I made new friends _and_ kept in touch with my friends from back home. You can do the same." He paused, noticing the concern on his fiancée's face. "I'm not going to ask you to make a decision right now because I get it, it's life-changing, but Tiff, I know we'll be happy together in Glasgow. I know it. I just need you to get onboard and back me."

Get onboard? Back me? He was making this move sound like a business deal. It was so much more than that. Drew talked about how his life changed when he moved to America but when he did that, he only had himself to think of; now there were two lives involved. And it wasn't as if they were moving to a different city, or even across the country. Scotland was about three thousand miles from where they were and that was scary as hell.

Tiffany was happy with her life. She had a job she loved, she had her family and friends where she needed them and things were finally looking up with Drew, but there was one factor that kept coming up in her head and that was Jay. If she moved to another country, would that be effectively ending whatever was going on between them? Did she have to speak to him before she made a decision?

"I think I need another drink." The blonde muttered, downing a glass of champagne.

* * *

Uh oh, can anyone else see drama on the horizon?  
Please **review** :) xx

**NEXT TIME – **Eve attempts to set Mike straight after their last encounter and Mickie's romantic night in is jeopardised


	26. You Have a Visitor

Chapter 26 :) enjoy! x

* * *

**YOU HAVE A VISITOR**

"I've been waiting here for an hour. Where've you been?"

The last person Mike expected to see waiting for him in his office that morning was Eve. His best friend's girlfriend was sat in the chair at his desk, her arms folded impatiently across her chest with a scowl on her face. Not much was new there then.

"You can't show up without warning and then yell at me for not being here if I didn't know you were coming. That's not how it works, Torres."

Ignoring his comment, the brunette got to her feet. "Well, I can't stay, I have to go to work–"

"Wait, you're going? You waited here for an hour to talk to me but when I show up, you leave? It must've been important if you hung around that long."

It seemed that whatever Eve had to say had now given her cold feet but he resisted saying this aloud. Since the night of the double date, the pair had not spoken two words to each other. Alex had been spending a lot of time at Eve's apartment instead of his place and Mike did see Eve, she seemed to go out of her way to avoid him.

He was hardly surprised; she essentially admitted that Mike bringing Kaitlyn out made her jealous, but he had no idea what that meant. The way she treated him implied she despised him and although he always joked that she secretly had feelings for him, he never actually believed it. And how did he feel about her? He wasn't entirely sure. He was attracted to her, as any red blooded male would be, but on a deeper level, his feelings were much more of a grey area.

"I just wanted to tell you that the other night when we were out with Alex and Kaitlyn, I'd had a lot to drink–"

"You're telling me."

"–if you're not going to take this seriously, I'm just going to leave because if there's one person I refuse to be laughed at by, it's you."

He removed the smirk from his face. "Go on then."

"As I was saying, I drank way too much and honestly, I can't remember a lot of what I said. Or did." She paused, as if letting him take in what she just said. "My main concern is that I embarrassed but at the same time, I hope I didn't embarrass you. If I did, then I guess I should apologise but like I say, much of that evening is a blur to me."

Mike wasn't quite sure of what to say. Initially, he wondered if she was feigning ignorance because she was worried she had said too much. But then again, he had spent a lot of time around inebriated women and knew they weren't the most coherent type. Maybe it was possible that she drank so much she began talking complete crap.

"So you don't remember us having a conversation in my kitchen?"

"We had a conversation in the kitchen? Like I said, after the restaurant, it's all a bit of a blur. I just remember waking up in Alex's bed with a pounding headache." She was completely cool about the whole thing; beautiful, hard and untouchable. "Did I say something embarrassing?"

He looked Eve dead in the eyes and she matched his stare, unflinching. "No, nothing important." What was the point of telling the truth?"

"Okay. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to work."

She sidled past him and left the office, closing the door behind her. Once out of his sight, she felt her face flush and her palms begin to sweat; she needed to get out of the hotel as soon as possible. Kaitlyn was at the front desk but was too busy gossiping with one of the other receptionists to notice Eve sneak out the doors and into the nearest cab.

That whole speech had been a complete lie. Okay, there were some parts of the night which were incredibly hazy but the first thing she remembered the morning that followed, as she sat on the bathroom floor with her head in the toilet bowl, was telling Mike she was jealous. And what made it worse was that it hadn't been a lie. Seeing him and Kaitlyn together made her incredibly jealous and she couldn't understand why.

She was in a great relationship with a guy who was perfect for her. Alex was her 'type' through and through and you couldn't have found someone more suited to her in the whole city. Yet somehow, she was hung up about Mike. Avoiding him at all costs hadn't worked – the more she stayed away from him, the more he weighed on her mind. That was why she decided confrontation, followed by complete denial was her best tactic.

And now her plan had been executed, she could hopefully clear Mike from her head. It was nearly her birthday and Alex said he had a big surprise for her. She had no idea what it was, but it had to be good, didn't it?

* * *

The silence in the living room could have been cut with a knife. Maryse was back in her own house yet she felt like a complete stranger, sat rigidly in one of the armchairs. She wondered whether coming here was a good idea after all, not that she could leave now.

Ted came out from the kitchen and handed her a cup of coffee. She couldn't remember the last time she had a regular cup of coffee; in her world, it was all lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and fraps. "Thank you," she smiled at her husband, taking a sip and placing the hot cup down on the coffee table.

"You're welcome." He slumped down on the opposite couch, no drink of his own. Since she last saw him, his five o clock shadow was darker and his clothes were un-ironed but despite his dishevelled appearance, she was still amazed at how handsome he looked. "So what's been going on with you?"

"Not a lot. Mostly work, staying at Jack's. What about you?"

"Me too. Not the Jack part though, that would be weird."

She smiled. "And the other day, Rosa from work got engaged."

"Which one's Rosa?"

"Attractive, dyes her hair a lot, now engaged to Alberto Del Rio."

"Oh yeah, the rich Mexican guy that's always on Forbes list. She must be happy, considering he's two about skyrise apartments from owning Tribeca."

"She's thrilled. And they're having an engagement party, this weekend actually, and Rosa's invited us. Both of us."

Ted laughed, scratching at his stubbly chin, which Maryse was strangely attracted to, considering how she used to moan at her husband for not shaving. "How did you get out of that one?"

This was going to be the difficult part, Maryse thought. "Actually..."

"You told her we'd go, didn't you?"

"I had no choice–"

"Maryse! Of course you had a choice!"

He had been a part of his wife's world for long enough to know how it worked; it was all about putting on a good show and keeping up appearances, even when things were rough. He had attended countless social events because of Maryse's work and he could spot an unhappy marriage a mile off; it was the couple whose smiles were wider than everyone else's but when they thought they were alone, they were hissing in corners. In the past, Ted always felt relieved that his marriage was much more real and happy than theirs but now?

"I told her you were busy with work but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Then she kept talking about how the evening would be an incredible business opportunity for you because everyone wants architects–"

"I don't care about work – I don't need Alberto's rich friends to pay my bills – I care more about going out wearing a tux and a fake smile, pretending everything's okay when we both know it isn't. That might be okay for some people but it's not for me."

"I know, Ted, I know. But don't you think that a night out would be a good thing? To go out as a couple and not have to worry, to be happy?"

"Will we really be happy, or will be just be pretending to be happy?"

"If I'm with you, then I know I'll be happy. I miss you, Ted."

He looked across the coffee table at his wife. He was a complete mess and yet she was as immaculate as ever; perfect nails, perfect hair, perfect makeup; she was angelic and he adored her, despite his frustrations.

"I know how much you hate these social events and you probably hate them even more considering I want you to come even though we're not..." She didn't know what the end of that sentence was, so she let it trail away. "But it would mean the world to me if you agreed to come."

"Let me think about it."

At this point, that was the best Maryse was going to get. She sipped her coffee in satisfied silence.

* * *

"…he usually keeps a spare key under the welcome mat so I should be able to get in." When Mickie lifted up the mat, a small silver key sat on the ground, waiting to be used. "Bingo."

"_Got it?_" Maria asked from the other end of the cell phone.

"Got it. You're sure this isn't breaking in?"

"_Live dangerously, sweetie. Besides, he's your boyfriend and he knows that you know where the spare key is, right? It's not as if you're climbing through a window. Cody's not going to call the cops on you._"

"Okay, I'm in."

"_And you've got everything?_"

"I think so. By the way, I stopped off at Victoria's Secret on the way here."

"_Good plan. Nothing a guy can resist more than great linger-argh, I've gotta get back to my shift. Text me if you need anything and I'll call you on my next break, okay?_"

"Thanks Maria."

"_No problem. Knock him dead._"

Hanging up the phone, the brunette sighed.

It seemed that lately, she had been seeing a lot less of her boyfriend and her boyfriend had been seeing a lot more of Kelly. She wasn't the jealous type but naturally, she felt threatened by the beautiful blonde's presence. What normal girlfriend wouldn't? She needed to regain Cody's attention and remind him why they were so good together. That was when she and Maria came up with the idea of a surprise romantic night in. Cody had mentioned he was getting away from the office a little earlier that evening, which was why she was invading his house in preparation.

She poked her head around the house and it seemed like the house hadn't been tidied up after breakfast; there were empty plates in the kitchen and living room, the bathroom was steamed up from his morning shower and his bed was unmade. Deciding to spruce things up, she threw the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and made up Cody's bed before running a vacuum around the rooms.

Returning to the bags she dropped in the hallway on her way in, she found a bottle of wine, which she placed in the fridge to chill, and grabbed a couple of candles she had found lying around her place – she wasn't exactly the romantic type so all this was fairly new to her. And wasn't it the guy that was supposed to be the romancer?

Once the whole place looked a little more presentable, Mickie headed for the shower – she had come straight from the hospital and wanted to freshen up. Once under the hot running water, her thoughts drifted to her relationship. Getting Cody into a monogamous commitment had been like pulling teeth and she certainly didn't think that once they were in that relationship, she would have to fight for him like she was now. It had unintentionally become her versus Kelly, but she wasn't sure if the blonde knew it.

_Whatever._ She cleared Kelly from her head and tried to think of the night ahead and if there was anything else she needed to do. She had to put the pre-prepared lasagne in the oven. She also needed to check there was appropriate music in the stereo and not one of Cody's _Foreigner_ CDs; for someone who seemed so cool, he had ridiculous taste in music–

"_I'm telling you, that kid on the subway was a brat! Every time you and his mom weren't looking, he was giving me the finger!"_

The bathroom window was open and on the street below, Mickie could hear her boyfriend's voice. She turned off the shower and cursed; he wasn't supposed to be back this early.

"_I find that hard to believe, Cody_." And Kelly was with him? What the hell was going on? _"He was wearing a Lightning McQueen t-shirt, for God's sake._"

"_New York kids are tough. They may seem all Pixar and lollipops but they're badass._"

Mickie reached for a towel, doing her best to dry off as quickly as possible. Still damp, she found a bathrobe over the back of the door and slung it on at the sound of the key turning in the front door lock.

"_Okay, well I'll–"_ There was a pause. "_Did you clean up in here?"_

"_No, I didn't. That's weird–"_

At the top of the staircase, Mickie appeared, feeling more embarrassed than she had in years. The eyes of Cody and Kelly scanned over her in both shock and confusion. Embarrassed didn't cover it, she felt mortified. "Hey."

"Forgive me for being a little confused but what's going on?" Her boyfriend asked.

"I let myself in, sorry. You said you were getting off work early so I thought I'd sur–"

"Shit, I did, didn't I?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I totally forgot. It's just that Kelly has two tickets for tonight's Rangers game. Courtside seats."

"They're great seats." Kelly agreed, but when she looked up the stairs and met Mickie's gaze, her expression changed to one of guilt. "But if you guys have something planned, I can find someone else, no problem. I don't want to impose."

"Well, you don't mind, do you, Micks?" Was he asking her permission? In about two seconds, Mickie had gone from feeling like Cody's girlfriend to feeling like his mother.

Whilst Kelly looked full of remorse and aware of the imposition she had caused, Cody seemed completely oblivious. The brunette didn't want to be the girlfriend that told her partner what he could and couldn't do but it seemed her relaxed attitude was turning her into the doormat Cody kept his key under. There were two things she wanted in that moment; number one, to be wearing actual clothes and not a bathrobe, and two, to punch Cody's clueless little face in. It took everything in her power to take a deep breath and calmly reply, "Sure, go ahead."

"You're amazing." He jogged up the stairs and kissed her briefly on the lips before turning back to Kelly. "I'm just gonna change and then we can head out again?"

When he disappeared into the bedroom, silence formed between the two women, with Mickie frostily looking down on the blonde whilst Kelly rocked back and forth uncomfortably on her heels. She must have been relieved when her cell phone rang and she had the opportunity to escape to the kitchen to receive the call.

The turnaround took a couple of minutes and no sooner was Cody through the door, he and Kelly were gone again. Once the door was shut, the brunette decided she needed a drink, burrowing in the fridge for the wine she had put in there earlier.

As she sat down at the kitchen table with her glass, she noticed that Kelly's cell phone was on the surface. The blonde had obviously left it behind after her earlier call.

Mickie knew it was wrong to go through someone else's phone but it was like she was drawn to it. Mainly, she just scrolled through the messages to and from Cody but there was nothing incriminating; although there were lots of messages, they were all purely platonic.

But then, it a moment of madness, Mickie delved into Kelly's phonebook and found herself calling Justin.

* * *

Please review! xx

**NEXT TIME – **_Ted and Maryse's night out doesn't go quite to plan and Tiffany looks for answers_.


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